The Beginning of Everything
by Yua-hime
Summary: When a strange blue mist engulfs six sixth year Hogwarts students in 1997 and eight adults, embroiled in the war during Voldemort's first rein, in 1979, the two groups are forced to get along and read seven strange books in the hopes of saving their future.
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is my first story, so constructive criticism is welcome, but please no flames. Sorry if you have any problems figuring out where the story is. The line breaks are being persnickety. Before you begin reading my story there are several very important things that you should know:**

**IMPOTANT! PLEASE READ!**

**This is a reading the books fanfiction, However there is a twist, I'm adding in my own OC (Atlas Black). He will actually be incorporated into the story, so there will be some changes to the books. Please don't worry about him being a Gary Stu, he's not a part of the trio and his involvement is more like Neville's.**

**All of the added parts of the story will be in _Bold Italics_. Please note that I DO NOT own any letters, news reports/articles, songs, poems, or prophecies that are already in italics in the books and are recognizable as J.K. Rowlings. You may precede to the story after this brief disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of J.K. Rowling and her affiliates. I do not intend to infringe on anybody's rights and the following story is made for pure enjoyment and does not make any profit. The only thing I do own is Atlas my OC and the parts he plays in this rendition of Harry Potter.**

* * *

It was a hectic day in the Gryffindor common room after the previous days winning of the Quidditch cup. Just about every student was high off the victory and many were still partying even though it had been well over twelve hours since the match. One Harry James Potter was also celebrating a victory, though this was a victory of another kind. He had finally kissed Ginny Weasley and they were officially going out. He couldn't help but let his thoughts stray to her, longing for her to be with him instead of in class.

Harry's three friends were scattered about the common room aimlessly; two of them trying to ignore the chaos going on around them while the other was helping bring about the chaos. Hermione Granger was busy studying, as usual. Ron was happily partying and going on about what he'd done in the game that helped them win (he, of course, was blowing everything out of proportion, though his spectators didn't seem to mind). Atlas Black, a rather small read-headed boy with silver eyes, meanwhile, was writing in his journal.

Atlas had had a very strange dream last night. He knew from its realistic feel and confusing set up that it had been a prophetic dream. In it he had been surrounded by noise; yelling and screaming and shattering glass. He was pretty sure that there were spells flying through the air too, but for whatever reason he had been submerged in darkness throughout the duration of his dream. It wasn't a very comforting feeling.

Just as Atlas finished his journal entry he felt a chill in the air. When he looked up to see what had caused it, he noticed that a strange bluish colored mist had descended upon the common room. All the student within the dorm had begun panicking and several tried to leave only to find that the door was sealed shut. Atlas rose and made his way over to his three friends, who were slowly beginning to converge.

"What the bloody hell!" Ron cursed in surprise and worry.

"What's going on?" Hermione had stood quickly from her seated position and her books fell to her feat carelessly.

"Why are you looking at me?" Harry exclaimed, just as confused and agitated as the others.

"Has anyone else noticed that it's getting thicker where we're standing?" Atlas asked with a nervous tinge to his voice.

Apparently the others hadn't noticed, because as soon as he had uttered the words Harry, Ron, and Hermione began looking around themselves frantically. The four friends tried to leave the fog, but all of their movements were sluggish, as if they were trying to walk through jell-o. When they tried to call out for help it sounded like they were under water. They all began to feel a strange tingling sensation across their skin. Unconsciousness followed soon after.

* * *

Neville Longbottom and Draco Malfoy were in the middle of a small confrontation. Draco had been in a particularly bad mood all year and had finally snapped, deciding that he would let off some steam with whoever he came across next. As luck would have it Neville was making his way back to the common room when he came across him. Draco had stopped him and decided he would let off steam by insulting his potions work, his clumsiness, or really anything that would get his mind off of his mission for a few minutes.

Before either boy could say or do anything, however, a strange bluish mist surrounded them. They both cried out in surprise at the sudden drop in air temperature. Soon a tingling sensation crawled across their skin and they lost consciousness.

* * *

A large group of people were seated around a long table in a rather spacious room hidden deep within Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This group of people was known as the Order of the Phoenix, and they were lead by none other than Albus Dumbledore. They had gathered together for their weekly meeting and were discussing Voldemort's recent activities.

"He getting bolder," Sirius Black stated, "I've just received news that a small muggle village was attacked. Everyone is either dead or severely injured."

"He's not just targeting muggles either," James Potter added, "Sparrow Haven was attacked just two nights ago. It took nearly twenty Aurors to subdue the Death Eaters and even then most of them were able to escape."

"Yes. I'm well aware of how dire the situation has become," Dumbledore said gravely, "Remus, what of the werewolves? Have they made a decision yet?"

Remus Lupin looked at the Dumbledore tiredly. The full moon had been three days ago and the added stress of the war had made his transformation worse than it normally was. Despite his tiredness, he was dedicated to the cause and was determined to be as useful as possible.

"They're still discussing amongst themselves, but I fear that they're leaning towards joining Voldemort."

Dumbledore grew graver at this, but plowed on nonetheless, "Hagrid, what of the giants?"

"Sorry, Professor Dumbledore, sir. They've bin swayed ter join You-Know-Who," Hagrid answered remorsefully.

"Perhaps we should-" Lily Potter nee Evens began but was cut off when a chill descended upon the room and a strange blue mist began to rise from the floor.

The entire room erupted into chaos. Each member pulled out their wands and began casting spells to find out what was happening. Lily and James drew closer together and Remus and Sirius stood back to back. Allistor "Mad-Eye" Moody scanned the room with his electric eye, looking for the source of the enchantments. Fabian and Gideon Prewett could be seen trying to escape a particularly thick section of the fog and Frank and Alice Longbottom were casting multiple analyzing spells.

It only took a short time for their movements to become sluggish and a strange tingling sensation to wash over them. After only a minute had passed since the odd mist had entered the room, the Order members all lost consciousness.

* * *

Regulus Black ran quickly through the streets of Wales. Rain poured from the heavens , drenching and chilling him to the bone. It blocked his view of most of the world around him, but he didn't need to be able to see, he had memorized every step of this path. He knew exactly where to find his destination – where to find _her_.

Adeline was the love of his life, even if she was a muggle. The moment he laid eyes on her, he was drawn in. Their first conversation was short, but it was the beginning of a beautiful love, a forbidden love. He was a Death Eater for crying out loud! She was a muggle, not even muggle-born. It was stupid to be in love with her. It put both of them in so much danger, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. No, what he regretted was taking the Mark, especially with what he suspected the Dark Lord to have done.

Regulus put on a burst of speed as he rounded a corner. He was only five minutes away. Only five minutes away from telling Adeline what he was – _who_ he was. He was tired of the lies. He would rather she knew the truth and hated him, than for her to love a lie. It was her right to know the man she had been with for the last two years. It was risky, he knew, but he didn't have any more time. He needed to let her know before he confirmed his theory about the Dark Lord.

Unfortunately, he was so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to notice the strange blue mist that began to surround him until it was too late. Regulus fell to the ground as his movements suddenly became slower. His eyes widened as he saw the mist and he reached for his wand only to find that he could hardly move. A tingling sensation ran across his skin and soon he was lost to the unconsciousness.

* * *

Severus Snape was in his basement brewing a potion for the Dark Lord and thinking of his unrequited love with his ex-best friend Lily. He was angry with her, for marrying his school tormenter James Potter. He felt betrayed that she would marry him after everything Potter had done to him, but he was angrier with himself for pushing Lily away.

Severus knew that it was his fault that Lily was no longer his friend. He had used that awful word against her, a word he had sworn never to use with her. If he were to be honest with himself, though, they had begun to grow apart before that. He had begun to take part in some of the nastier Slytherin activities, when hanging around the Voldemort supporters.

Severus Snape was not one to be honest with himself, however, not until he was confronted with absolute undeniable proof of his actions. It was this unfortunate flaw that truly drove a wedge between his friendship with Lily. It was also the reason he blamed James Potter for just about everything bad that had happened to him since he had started school. It was easier this way and he didn't have to feel guilty about shunting the blame onto him.

Severus poured in a bit of solution into the potion and began stirring counterclockwise. After a few turns he notice that the potion was producing a strange blue colored mist that was cold to the touch. He knew that this was not supposed to happen, but couldn't begin to fathom where he'd gone wrong. Before he could even move an inch from the ruined potion he was surrounded by the mist and nearly paralyzed. He felt a tingling sensation on his skin before he lost consciousness.

* * *

In a place unknown to all there was a very large room filled with blue mist. As the mist began to recede, the room's features could be made out. It was very large and ornately decorated. Though there were no lights the room was well illuminated. The color scheme was quite neutral, with beige carpets, cream colored walls, and dark brown, leather couches and chairs. There were also several large bean bags scattered around the room and rather warm looking blankets thrown over the backs of the furniture. A large ivory fireplace took up most of the wall the furniture was facing. Two sturdy, low-rise coffee tables were placed in the middle of the furniture. On the wall opposite the fireplace a large open doorway led to a dinning room, with a long table in the middle. The other two walls were adorned with with four doors each, which presumably led to bedrooms.

Before the mist had fully dissipated, sixteen unconscious people appeared upon the floor. There ages ranged from fifteen to twenty-five. After about five minutes several of the rooms occupants began to stir.

The first person to awaken was James Potter soon followed by his wife Lily. Next came Fabian Prewett, Remus Lupin, and finally Atlas Black. They were all still a bit dazed, but their first reactions were to check on their fallen comrades. Once the five of them had assured themselves that their friends were uninjured (though they could not awaken them) they took a look at the other people in the room.

James, Remus, Lily, and Fabian were shocked to see a kid that looked almost exactly like James lying by the boy who had woken up with them. They noticed the slight widening of the boys eyes when he looked at them, but they didn't have time to think on it because they had just spotted Severus and Regulus – two known Death Eaters. They all reached for their wands, but were surprised and frightened when they realized they didn't have them.

Atlas on the other hand nearly hyperventilated when he looked at the adults in the room. He knew that James and Lily Potter were dead, but there they were standing right in front of him. He took a brief moment to look at Remus – he was so _young_ – and the other man that he didn't recognize. Ultimately his gaze landed back on Harry's parents.

As he watch them he noticed them looking at the other occupants in the room, whom he'd been to distracted to look at himself. He decided that this was the right idea and that he should probably look around too. When he turned to his left, he nearly passed out.

Lying on the floor, no more then ten feet away, was his father. Much younger than he should be, his face was the exact replica of the picture he had hidden away in his robes. It was too much to take. He had to be in a dream or some kind of enchantment. He reached for his wand in hopes of dispelling the cruel image before his eyes only to meet with nothing. His wand was gone!

Before he could begin panicking to badly he heard some groaning coming from near by. It appeared that the rest of the people in the room were beginning to wake up. Atlas race over to his friends sides, stopping just beside Harry, who was beginning to rise from the ground.

"Urgh. What happened?" Harry groaned and briefly looked around the room, "Where are we?"

"Dunno," Atlas answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

Harry watched as Atlas glanced behind him and then turned nervously back to him. Harry was still a little out of it, so he hadn't paid any mind to the other people in the room aside from a quick glance around him to assure himself that his friends were all with him. He watched as Atlas opened his mouth several times to say something, but closed it again, still looking nervous.

"What is it Atlas?" he finally asked, slightly irritated, after the fifth time nothing came out of his friends mouth.

"Look, Harry," Atlas began nervously, his hands fidgeting, "There are some...People here that you might be surprised to see, and you'll probably get really upset, but you need to try and stay calm, okay? Because we don't know where we are or why we're here and everyone needs to have a cool head, if we're going to figure that out, okay?"

By the end of his little speech Atlas had begun to sound very agitated himself and was nearly begging Harry not to lose his temper. This certainly didn't reassure him, because it was hard to get Atlas so worked up. If Atlas, the perpetually happy member of the group was so worried, Harry knew that he probably wouldn't be able to keep his promise to stay calm. He would have said this too, but then he saw his friend's pleading face and decided to promise to stay calm. Of course, Harry knew it would be difficult, but Atlas was like a younger brother to him (even if they were the same age) and he didn't want to see such a worried look on his usually carefree face.

"Great," Atlas said, relieved, "Then you might want to take a look at the people behind me."

Harry did so and nearly had a heart attack. Standing behind Atlas and helping their friends off the floor, were Harry's parents and recently deceased godfather. Harry understood now why Atlas had been so worried about his reaction and he tried very hard to stay calm, but he was pretty sure it wasn't working.

This had to be some kind of joke! A really sick twisted joke. They were obviously apart of some kind of enchantment and Harry was determined to end it. When he reached for his wand, however, he was surprised and disconcerted to see that he didn't have it with him. He was so deep in his thoughts that he jumped when he heard someone say his name.

"Harry?"

"Mate, you okay?"

Ron and Hermione were standing beside him looking very worried. Atlas was biting his bottom lip nervously. Harry drew in a deep breath and tried to staunch the fury and grief that was churning his stomach. When he was sure that he wasn't going to start yelling or crying he began to speak.

"Do any of you have your wands?" His voice was a little strained, but over all calm. When his three friends shook their heads he sighed and turned to Neville, whom he'd seen when he'd first woken up and was checking on his friends.

"Neville?" he asked, but Neville didn't answer. He was staring wide eyed and open mouthed at something to their left. When the four turned to see what it was, Harry heard Hermione gasp and Ron curse. Harry knew they were reacting to seeing his parents and Sirius. It was to painful to see their faces, so he quickly tuned away from them and looked to where Neville had been staring, which was a little further to the left.

Harry and Atlas completely understood Neville's shock when they saw the young couple making their way towards Harry's parents. The woman was petite with a rounded face and short blonde hair. The man was quite tall with broad shoulders and dark brown hair. He was slightly intimidating, but his eyes were warm and kind. They were Neville's parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom.

Atlas was rather perceptive and he had had more time to take in the fact that dead people suddenly weren't dead. It was this that made hims suspicious. He had now seen four people he knew to be dead alive and well and two others who were supposed to be in St. Mungo's closed ward due to insanity, acting quite sane. He was beginning to doubt that this was some sort of malicious trick. He had already noticed something was off when he saw his father, but he had been too shocked for it to click at the time. Now that he was thinking more clearly he realized that all of the adults he recognized were much younger than they should be. He would have talked this over with his friends, had Harry's father not started yelling at the two Death Eaters in the room.

"What have you two done!?" James yelled accusingly.

"I can assure you _Potter_," Snape spat, "We have nothing to do with whatever is going on."

"Yeah right," Sirius said, "And why should we go around believing a couple of _Death Eaters_," he hissed the name like a curse.

"Because Sirius," Regulus Black spoke, causing his brother to stiffen and his eyes to narrow at him, "We wouldn't have trapped ourselves with you, nor would we make ourselves defenseless. As it appears that none of us have our wands..." he made a gesture with his hand, "I think you can guess the rest on your own."

Sirius growled, but had to concede the point. It wasn't really Voldemort's style to kidnap a bunch of people and lock them in a room with Death Eaters, who had been disarmed. He was much more likely to just kill you.

"We need to work together to figure out what's going on here."

Once the sentence left Lily's mouth there was an immediate uproar from the adults. The teenagers weren't sure how to react and most of them were still too shocked about who was in the room with them to really comment. Hermione and Atlas were the only two to remain silent because they agreed with what Lily had said.

"Enough!" Remus yelled, "Lily is right. We don't know what's going on. We don't know where we are. There's a group of teenagers staring at us as if they'd seen the dead come back to life," Remus paused as the Order members and Death Eaters looked at the six children on the other side of the room, "Whether we like it or not, we're all in the same boat and the only way we're going to get out of it is if we all work together."

"Yeah, alright Remus. We'll work with them," Gideon Prewett said and the others gave their own acknowledgments.

"How are we going to go about this though?" Fabian Prewett Gideon's older twin brother questioned, looking at all the people in the room. Most of them just shrugged their shoulders while others looked to be in thought. It wasn't until one of the teenagers in the room spoke up, did the group finally get somewhere.

"Perhaps," Hermione started tentatively, "We should all introduce ourselves. That way we at least have names to call each other by."

The adults were shocked by the simplicity of the suggestion and mildly embarrassed that they hadn't thought of it sooner. When everyone had agreed to the idea, Lily stepped up.

"I suppose I'll go first then," she said smiling at the teenagers, "My name's Lily Potter. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm James Potter," James smiled and ruffled his hair a bit.

"Sirius Black," Sirius said with a small grin and a wink.

"Remus Lupin," He smiled kindly as he spoke.

"Alice Longbottom. Nice to meet you all," Alice was very chipper and smiled brightly at everyone in the room.

"Frank Longbottom," Neville's father said laughing slightly at his wife's antics.

"Fabian-" the eldest of the adults began.

"-and Gideon-" Fabian's twin continued.

"Prewett. It's a pleasure," the reddish-brown haired twins finished together in a way that was reminiscent of Fred and George Weasley.

"Severus Snape," Snape sneered at everyone, but Regulus.

"Regulus Black," he said distractedly as he stared at Atlas, who was trying to look anywhere else.

As each of the adults introduced themselves, they all noticed the small flinches and sad looks the teenagers gave some of them. The blonde haired boy, who resembled Lucius Malfoy, was the only one who didn't react too strongly to their name, but even his eyes widened as each name was given. It was a curious reaction and most of the adults decided to ask about it later, when the introductions were finished.

"Well then, my name's Hermione Granger," Hermione boldly said.

"Ron Weasley," Ron said staring ever so slightly at Fabian and Gideon, who recognized the name of their sisters husband, but decided against mentioning it just yet.

"Harry Potter," Harry said quietly and the adults gasped and looked at each other confused. Before they got a chance to say anything, They were interrupted by another voice.

"I'm Atlas Black." This name caused the same reaction as Harry's had, but yet again no one was able to comment as the next teenager spoke up.

"I-I'm N-Neville Longbottom." He had spoken so softly that most of the people had to strain to hear him. Once again the adults were stunned.

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," Malfoy said pompously. The adults were shocked and wary of that name, while Atlas and Hermione gave a small chuckle at the introduction, which reminded them of James Bond.

Before anyone could say anything else, the strange blue mist that had brought them to the room appeared in front of Atlas. Startled, he tried to rush backwards only to find that he had lost all strength in his legs. He fell backwards and the mist moved to hover over him. Everyone else immediately reached for their wands before remembering that they didn't have them.

Fortunately wands weren't needed as the mist dissipated as soon as it had appeared, leaving a thoroughly bewildered Atlas with a small role of parchment and seven books on his lap. Atlas picked up the parchment and stared at it for a moment before opening it.

"Wait!" several voices shouted as he began to unwind the twine tied around the parchment. They were too late in stopping him, however and he opened it. Everyone waited with bated breath, but nothing happened.

"What were you thinking!" Regulus shouted angrily, "That could have been cursed! Appearing here so suddenly the same way we were kidnapped. Do you have any idea what could have happened!?"

Atlas flinched a little at the angry shout and Regulus felt a little bad for yelling, but his anger at the kid's stupidity and worry for his safety far outweighed his guilt. He didn't really understand why he was feeling so protective of him, but all the thoughts of what could have happened to the boy nearly made him sick. He opened his mouth to continue his scolding, but was interrupted.

"Hey, leave him alone," Harry intervened, "He wasn't thinking-"

"_That_ was obvious," Snape interrupted from beside Regulus. Harry glared at him for a second and then turned back to Regulus.

"As I was saying, he wasn't thinking, but he realizes his mistake now. There's no need to carry on about it anymore."

"No reason?" Regulus questioned incredulously, "Do you have any idea what could have happened?"

"We're all aware of what could have happened," Sirius spoke up, "But nothing _did_ happen and that's all that matters right now. We don't have time to waste scolding him about it more."

Once again Regulus opened his mouth to speak, and once again he was interrupted. This time it was by the subject of the conversation.

"Um, I'm sorry I worried everyone. I didn't mean to, but we don't have any wands to check for curses and considering it arrived the same way the rest of us did, I thought it might have a clue as to why we're here," Atlas reasoned, "Plus, why would we be kidnapped only to be cursed by a role of parchment?"

Regulus looked at the boy for a moment before conceding his point. It did make sense and he did apologize, so Regulus let it go for now. The others also nodded their heads in acceptance of his apology and acknowledgment of his reasoning.

It was James that finally asked the question that was on all of their minds, "Well, what is it?"

"It's a letter. It's been addressed to all of us. It says:

'_Dear James and Lily Potter, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Sirius Black, Regulus Black, Remus Lupin, Fabian Prewett, Gideon Prewett, Severus Snape, Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Atlas Black, and Draco Malfoy,_

_We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience we've caused by bringing you all here. We understand that you are all confused and suspicious, but we do not intend to harm any of you._

_You are all in a place we like to call the In-between. It's a pocket dimension outside of time and in-between the realms of life and death. While here you will not age and no time will pass from when you were taken to when you return. You will be given everything you need, including food while you're here. You won't even have to cook, unless you'd like to. In order to get the food, just take one of the plates and tell it what you want and it will appear. If you're worried about how your getting this food, please don't. It's much too hard to explain, but suffice it to say that there's an endless supply, it's not stolen, and no House Elves were apart of the preparations (though I'm sure only Hermione thought of that last one)._

_We have brought you to the In-between to read seven very important books. We understand that many of you will be quite upset that you are only going to read books, but these books are a bit different than your everyday books. They tell the future. Each one of the seven books chronicles one of Harry Potter's seven years at Hogwarts._

_Many people died in the second war against Voldemort. Those that survived were never the same again. It is our hope that by sending these books back many good people can be saved. We do understand that messing with time is illegal, however we have been given permission to do this and if it works nobody will know that you messed with time._

_We're sure that some of you are confused as to why we have brought people from two different time lines together. The reason for this is because we had to use a combination of spells for this to work. There isn't a spell that would allow me to bring the books as far back in time as we needed them to go. However we could send them to the In-between. The only problem then is getting the people we needed to the In-between. Unfortunately the only spell known to send people to the In-between is a very ancient and difficult spell. It was made so that people from the present could learn from those in the past or get to know family members that had passed on. There are two stipulations to this spell; one is that you must summon two people from two different times; two is that only the people from the later time would be able to remember what happened._

_Fortunately we were able to find a way around the second stipulation. By casting a special spell to send memories back in time so that those memories would become apart of whoever they were given too and then putting the memories into a book form to keep anyone from going crazy, because they had two different peoples memories in their head (their own plus whoever's memories were sent back) We were able to let everyone in the In-between keep their memories of the books. The only problem that might occur is the later generation might end up remembering their first life. Fortunately they wouldn't go crazy, because they're still their memories and they'll remember why they have them, but it still could be disconcerting._

_Please understand that you will not be allowed to leave the In-between until every last word of the books have been read. You will be given the choice to change the future, which we hope you will, or to leave things as they are. If you chose the last option everyone's memories will be erased. If you choose the first option there will need to be a majority vote. One person can't do anything. If this happens those that wanted it to play out as before will have their memories wiped of this entire event, so as not to hinder those that wish for a better future._

_Please choose wisely._

_Sincerely,_

_The Golden Trio_'"

Reactions varied throughout the room after Atlas had finished reading the letter. Atlas was overwhelmed with what he'd read and had to take a seat on one of the large couches. Harry was excited that he could change the outcome of both wars, even if he had to endure a little humiliation. Severus and Draco were both outraged that they were trapped here with a bunch of do-gooders. James, Lily, Frank, and Alice were shocked that they had children, but excited about reading about them. Remus and Sirius were also excited about learning about Harry and though he wouldn't admit it, Sirius was hoping his little brother would see the light and turn from Voldemort's following. Regulus was hoping he would be able to prove his theory about Voldemort. Neville was slightly overwhelmed but eternally happy that he would be able to get to know his parents. Hermione was worried about the repercussions of the spells used but interested in reading the books. Ron was upset that he would have to stay in the same place with Snape and Malfoy, but happy for his friends and a little excited about getting to know his uncles. Finally Fabian and Gideon were looking forward to getting to know one of their soon to be nephews and finding a way to defeat Voldemort.

Once everyone had settled down Neville spoke up, "So are we going to read them?"

"Well, we don't seem to have much of a choice in the matter," Frank said smiling at his future son. Neville smiled hesitantly back.

Once it was decided that they would read the books everyone began to seat themselves. The couch on the left side of the room from the fire place was occupied by Remus, Neville, and Atlas. There was an armchair by Atlas' seat and that was occupied by Snape. Regulus decided to take a beanbag by Snape's and Atlas' feet. Malfoy was sitting beside Snape on the couch across from the fireplace. Beside him sat James and Lily; Sirius sat at their feet. Gideon sat in the other armchair beside Lily and Fabian sat on a beanbag by his feet. On the couch across from the first Frank and Alice sat together along with Hermione, who sat at the end closest to the fireplace. Harry and Ron had procured two more beanbags and sat on either side of her legs, with Ron closest to the fireplace.

"You seem awfully happy about this," Snape sneered at Regulus once they were settled.

Regulus gave a brief glance his way, "As Longbottom said, we don't have any choice in being here. I'd rather be happy about it than mope the entire time. That would just make everything more unbearable."

Snape huffed but didn't say anything else as Atlas, who was still holding the books, spoke up.

"Who's going to read first?"

"I will," Hermione said. Her friends all smirked at her as if to say they knew she would volunteer to read first. She just sniffed in mock indignation and excepted the first book from Atlas, who put the others on the coffee table in front of him.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the Prologue. I've already uploaded the first official chapter as I didn't want to leave you without a reading chapter. I just thought that the prologue was a bit to long to put in with the first chapter.**

**I plan on updating once a week on Mondays, for now, even though it's Tuesday (I got tired of waiting). If I make it further ahead in the books or finish the books I will likely update more often.**

**I would like to thank everyone who's read this, I hope you enjoy the next chapter. See you all next Week!**

**~Yua-hime~**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, here's the first reading chapter! I hope you all enjoy it. I certainly had fun writing it. Please note that I don't have a Beta reader, so if there are any mistakes, I'm very sorry and would appreciate a heads up. I won't be putting any of the information in my chapters like I did in the prologue chapter until I get to where I'm actually adding text to the original storyline. Now, after this brief disclaimer you can get to the story:**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of J.K. Rowling and her affiliates. I do not intend to infringe on anybody's rights and the following story is made for pure enjoyment and does not make any profit. The only thing I do own is Atlas my OC and the parts he plays in this rendition of Harry Potter.**

* * *

"**Chapter One**," Hermione read and then paused, "There doesn't seem to be a chapter title," Hermione said, confused. She knew not all books had them, but for some reason this book seemed like the kind that would have chapter titles.

"None of the books had titles either," Atlas said, "They only gave what year it was."

"They probably took out any titles so that we would be more surprised and wouldn't be given any clues as to what's going to happen," Remus explained.

Hermione decided to continue reading when nobody else looked likely to comment.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people that you would expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"How boring!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I have to agree with Sirius. Why on earth are we reading about these people?" James questioned.

"Don't worry, you'll find out. I don't want to ruin the story by telling you everything," Harry replied. He was adamant about not telling them what was going on in the books unless absolutely necessary. If he had to live through all of his thoughts being read allowed, he was at least going to get some enjoyment out of it.

"The name Dursley sounds awfully familiar. I just can't quite place it," Lily muse aloud.

"Actually, it sounds kind of familiar to me too," James said while Remus and Sirius nodded their heads in agreement.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What is a drill?" Draco questioned.

His schoolmates looked at him oddly for a moment before Hermione answered, "A drill is a tool used to make holes for nails or screws in building objects. They are made in many different sizes for both large and small projects."

"Oh," was all he said after her explanation. After a few more seconds of surprised silence from the students and a growing confusion from the adults (or in Snape's case irateness) Hermione continued reading.

**He was a big beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.**

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

"Well don't they just sound lovely," Fabian muttered to his brother, who snorted.

"That's my sister! Dursley is the last name of the man she's married to," Lily exclaimed.

"That's right!" James said stunned.

Snape was also very surprised, having made the connection the same time Lily had. He hadn't seen Petunia in years, not since she'd moved away from home. Even so it wasn't hard to make the connection. Her looks hadn't really changed much. The fact that she and her husband were mentioned in the beginning of the story made him slightly uneasy. If this was a story about Lily's child, why was her sister being mentioned?

"Why would it be talking about your sister if the story is about Harry?" Alice asked echoing Snape's thoughts.

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Lily replied leaning into her husband and looking at Harry, who had a grimace on his face.

**The Dursleys also had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

Harry snorted, "Little. Yeah right. He looked like a beach ball."

Ron heard him and snorted before tuning back into the reading.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with the Potters!" Several people cried out indignantly.

"I beg to differ," Snape snorted.

Sirius stood up and glared angrily at Snape and looked like he was about to yell at him, but Atlas spoke up before he could, a slight frown on his face.

"You do realize that that Lily is a Potter now right? So your kind of insulting her too."

Snape's eyes widened and the look on his face was enough to have Sirius laughing. Once Sirius had settled down, Hermione continued.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursleys sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended that she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

Although Lily was used to the way her sister acted she was still hurt hearing that her sister pretended that she didn't even exist. James noticed her dropping mood and held her close to him.

"UnDursleyish isn't even a word," Hermione interrupted herself.

"James isn't good for nothing!" Sirius and Remus yelled at the book. Harry probably would have as well, but he was used to hearing things like this and he wasn't sure what he should call his father. Should he call hi Dad? That should be the natural reaction, but he'd never known his parents and was nervous about calling them 'mum' and 'dad'. At the same time, though, he wouldn't feel right about calling him James either.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.**

"They'd wonder how pigs like you could know such amazing people!" Sirius and Atlas yelled in defense of their friends. The two looked at each other wide eyed, before giving a slight smile.

"Thanks pads," James said, smiling at his friend, "And thank you Atlas."

"No problem," Sirius and Atlas once again said together.

**The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what!?" Ron, James, and surprisingly Neville, yelled in anger at the book.

"Dursley's kid is probably a spoiled brat," Frank said angrily.

"He is. Trust me," Harry said.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Dursley hummed as he pick out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs' Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter passed the window.**

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

"I can't believe he's condoning that kind of behavior!" Lily yelled, outraged.

"What kind of parent is he?" Alice asked, just as outraged as Lily.

"Obviously a bad one," Regulus said with a frown. Everyone stared at him in surprise and he just stared back, "What?"

"Just surprised that you decided to comment," Sirius said carefully looking at his brother through narrowed eyes.

Regulus stared hard at Sirius for a moment before speaking, "If I have to sit through this reading, which will take who knows how long, I might as well enjoy what I can and add my own input." Everyone remained silent for a few minutes as they continued to stare at him.

Atlas decided to speak up, and his voice sounded almost defensive, "I don't see why that should be a problem with anyone. It's not like he's hurting anyone."

The entire room save for Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at Atlas in surprise at his tone. He began to feel a little uncomfortable with all the looks he was receiving and looked at Hermione pleadingly. Hermione, having understood his request, smiled comfortingly at him and continued to read. Her voice jarred the rest of the room from their staring and they tuned back into the reading.

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive – no **_**looking **_**at the sign; cats couldn't read maps**_** or s**_**igns.**

"It must be an animagus," Remus said thoughtfully and most of the room agreed.

"He be paying attention to where he's going instead of worrying about a cat that he's convincing himself is normal anyway," Lily said.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put that cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"What's so strange about that?" Fabian asked.

"Muggles haven't worn cloaks for several hundred years," Lily and Hermione said together. They looked at each other in surprise before smiling.

"Oh," Fabian said. He was trying to imagine not having cloaks, but the image was too strange and he had to shake it from his mind.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes – the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid knew fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of those weirdo's standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, wearing and emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it.**

"What an idiot," Draco sneered.

"I'll admit he is an idiot, but that's not that unreasonable of an assumption to make for a Muggle," Remus said.

"Moony, as much as I hate to agree with a Malfoy," Sirius gave a grimace at the thought, "this Dursley person knows about the Wizarding world."

"True, but I doubt that he's looked up wizarding fashion given his aversion to us," Remus replied.

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He**_ **didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime.**

"What on earth could possibly be happening to make everyone so careless!?" Frank exclaimed in surprise. The people from the past shrugged their shoulders and looked at the people from the future, all of whom, except Draco, had a grimace on their faces.

"I'm pretty sure I know what day it is, but I think it's best if you let the book explain," Harry told them. They nodded in acquiescence, but were beginning to look worried by the teens reactions (except for Regulus, who hid his worry well and Snape, who just didn't care).

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important calls and shouted a bit more.**

"What a horrible man!" Alice said. She couldn't believe how rude Lily's brother in law was acting.

"That's a normal day?" Neville said at the same time as his mother, looking at the book incredulously

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road**

"What!?" Harry was shocked, "He's actually exercising?"

**to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Oh, that makes a little more sense," he sighed, looking greatly relieved. For a second there he thought that the world might have been ending.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard -"**

"**- yes, their son, Harry -"**

"Oh dear," Lily said nervously.

"What about Harry?" James asked, just as concerned as his wife.

The rest of the Order from the past looked quite concerned too. They dearly wanted to ask what was going on, but they knew the teenagers wouldn't answer them. Whatever it was, though, they knew it wouldn't be good.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead.**

"If only," Harry sighed wistfully, causing Ron, the twins, Sirius, James, and Atlas to laugh.

"Harry!" Both Lily and Hermione said.

"You shouldn't wish anyone dead," Lily told her son sternly.

"You won't be saying that for long," Harry muttered lowly, though not lowly enough to hide it from the rest of the room. Lily and James exchanged slightly worried glances.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whispering as of he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid.**

"He finally admits it!" Fabian and Gideon exclaim, causing everyone except Snape and Draco to laugh. The two of them just sneered at the antics of the majority of the room.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew **_**was**_ **called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"Eugh! Those are horrible names," Harry said with disgust.

"Don't worry. We'd never name you something like that," James said fervently.

"I can't believe he's never seen his own nephew," Alice said sadly.

"With the way they act, I'm not sure I want them to meet him," Lily said, looking sad at how her husband and sister would no doubt treat her son.

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley, she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if **_**he'd**_ **had a sister like that...but all the same, those people in cloaks...**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"Goodness Gracious! Is he alright?" Atlas said in concern to the poor man's well being.

The rest of the room laughed at this, though those that had met Mr. Dursley and seen how big he was also looked concerned for the stranger.

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.**

"He knows that word!?" Harry exclaimed, once again surprised by his uncle's out of the ordinary behavior.

**It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby stare. **

**"Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!" And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"His arms fit?" Ron asked quietly in disbelief. Harry looked just as stunned as he did.

The people from the past had gone silent. They couldn't believe it. Voldemort was dead. They had waited for this moment forever. They had fought hard and lost so many people. The odds were starting to turn in his favor and many people were beginning to think that all of their hard work and sacrifices had gone to waste. Yet there was the proof that it hadn't; that they had won.

"Woohoo!" Sirius, Fabian, Gideon, and James yelled as they jumped out of their seats. All of the Order members wore smiles and laughed in happiness. Lily and Alice cried in relief and happiness as their husbands twirled them around in a dance.

Snape couldn't believe what he was hearing. They had lost? How was that even possible? The Dark Lord would be defeated and Snape would be on the losing side. He knew he would go to Azkaban if the Dark Lord fell. He couldn't let that happen. He would have to tell the Dark Lord everything he heard.

Regulus was reacting a bit differently. He seemed calm and like the news didn't bother him, but he was deep in thought. He had his theories about the Dark Lord and if they were correct then he knew he wasn't dead. When he looked towards the teenagers and saw their slightly sad faces, he was even more convinced that he was right.

Harry and his friends watched as the adults continued to celebrate Voldemort's supposed fall. It was sad knowing that it wasn't true and knowing that they wouldn't be smiling for long, given the price for the reprieve.

It was nearly ten minutes later when the group settled down. They all took their seats again and looked towards the teens. What they saw dimmed their smiles a bit.

"What's wrong? Why do you look so sad?" Lily asked in concern

"You'll find out soon," Atlas said softly as he glanced at Harry.

"We should keep reading. We're only halfway done with this chapter," Hermione said before they could ask anymore questions, and continued reading.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"He doesn't approve of imagination?!" Everyone in the room, including Snape and Draco exclaimed.

"How could anyone not approve of imagination? The whole world's made up of imagination!" Alice exclaimed.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one, it had the same markings around its eyes. **

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

"That _has _to be Mcgonagall," Sirius said, and all those that had received that look shuddered in their seats.

"I wonder what she's doing there?" Remus asked.

**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let ****himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Really Tuney, that is no way to raise a child. You always said you'd raise your children well. What happened?" Lily said sadly.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: **

"**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

"**Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper about the Potters...**

"I can't believe this idiot is putting it all together!" Frank yelled.

"How could we have been so careless?" Snape asked to himself, though everyone heard him. They stared for a moment and he blushed when he realized he'd spoken aloud. Regulus gave him a slight smile which he tried to ignore. There was no way he was going to start commenting on this stupid story.

"We were definitely careless that day, but I think he's only putting it together because he knows about us. Most Muggles wouldn't connect owls and people wearing cloaks to witches or wizards," Hermione said.

"That's true, but somebody went much too far with the shooting stars," Lily added.

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. **

**"Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" As he expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"**No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

"**Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

"_**So?" **_**snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

"**Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... **_**her**_ **crowd.**"

"Her crowd?!" Alice yelled outraged, "What does he mean by that?"

"That filthy Muggle, making it sound as if we're part of some gang!" Draco exclaimed. He received a few looks, but nobody commented, because they agreed with him.

"They have an acute fear of saying the word 'wizard'," Harry explained.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"****I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

"**What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

"**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"It is not a nasty name!" Lily, Alice, and Hermione yelled.

"It's a sight better than Dudley!" Ron, James, Neville, and the twins yelled. Sirius and Remus just growled.

"You'd think with her aversion to anything strange she'd like the name Harry and give her own son a more common name," Regulus commented.

"Is Dudley even a real name?" Atlas asked in confusion.

"Yes. It's an old English name meaning 'People's Field'. It was originally the Sir name of an old Aristocratic family, but has been in use as a first name since the nineteenth century," Hermione replied, but turned red when she noticed _everyone_ staring at her with their mouths gaping.

"How do you _know_ that?" Ron asked incredulously.

"I read about it," she said, turning even redder, before quickly beginning to read.

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front ****garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things?**

"I thought he didn't approve of imagination?" Neville asked.

"He doesn't, but he'd rather be imagining things than have to deal with wizards," Harry said.

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

"Trust me, we don't want to be related to you either," James said with a disgusted sneer that surprised the Slytherins. It was as good if not better than any of their own.

**The Dursley got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even the Potters **_**were**_ **involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawed and turned over - it couldn't affect **_**them**_**... How very wrong he was.**

"For the first and last time in my life, I wish he wasn't," Harry sighed.

"I don't like the sound of that," Remus said quietly as he watched Hermione pat him on the shoulder comfortingly.

"I don't either Moony, I don't either," James said just as quietly.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching; appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had never been seen on Privet Drive. He was a tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and bread, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"Hey, It's Dumbledore!" Alice said happily.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, witch was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it opened, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the put-outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the put-outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"Ha! I knew it!" Sirius said grinning.

"No one doubted you pads," James laughed at his friends antics.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking ****woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, a emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. **

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

"Wait a minute," Atlas said confused, "I thought he apparated. How could he have passed feasts and parties if he apparated?" Everyone else shrugged, just as confused as the youngest Black.

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily, **"**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently, "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news," She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark living-room window, "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"No, he really doesn't," James said.

"I have a feeling that he's going to show up, or at least be mentioned quite a bit in these books," Atlas said.

"Why?" Neville asked, being the only one of the Atlas' friends that were present that didn't know about his precognitive abilities. The rest of the room looked curious about his statement as well.

"I dunno," he said with a slight shrug. Regulus and Remus were the only ones who caught the knowing looks on Harry, Ron, and Hermione's faces. They decided to keep quiet, but see if the boy was right.

"**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for elven years."**

"Eleven years," Lily whispered.

"That means this chapter is only about two years in the future," Frank said thoughtfully.

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably, "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors," She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on, "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has **_**gone, Dumbledore?"**

"**It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "we have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"A What?" most of the Purebloods asked.

"Their a sour Muggle sweet that tastes a bit like lemons," Lily answered.

"Oh."

"It says it right here too," Hermione said before continuing.

"**A **_**what?**_**"**

"**A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"**No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think that this was the moment for lemon drops, "As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has**_ **gone - **"

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for elven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort."**_

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to noticed, "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I never have seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"At least nobody here's afraid to say the name," Harry said in relief, "It gets really annoying when people shudder every time you say it."

"The only one's that won't say it are the Death Eaters," Sirius said glaring at said Death Eaters.

"You wouldn't say his name either Black, if you were around him all the time," Snape sneered.

"Well, as I wouldn't join him, it's a bit of a moot point, isn't it?"

"It doesn't really matter if you're afraid to say it or not," Harry cut in before a fight could start, "Your going to have to say it either way, because I say it, and it will be in the books. Now lets continue reading."

"**I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring, "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, alright, **_**Voldemort, **_**was frightened of."**

"Way to go McGonagall," the Prewett twins yelled.

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly, "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"Only because your to noble to use them," Neville said quietly.

"**Only because you're too - well **_**noble**_ **to use them."**

Neville looked stunned that he had said the same thing as his head of house.

"There are certainly worse people you could think like," Frank told his son who blushed a little from his dad speaking to him.

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Ew," Ron said looking a little sick. Several of the others looked like they agreed with him.

"To much information Dumbledore," Sirius said, his nose wrinkling.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to ****the **_**rumors **_**that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, had wall all day, for neither as a cat nor a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

"**What they're **_**saying,**_**" she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters.**

Everyone tensed. This wasn't sounding good. Nobody spoke, but many of the occupants had mantras of 'No' running through their heads, praying with all their might that it didn't mean what they feared.

**The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're – **_**dead,**_**"**

"NO!" Sirius shouted in devastation as the words were read. He didn't try to stop the flow of tears from falling as he cradled his head in his hands and sobbed. His best friend was going to die. Lily was going to die. Harry would never know his parents. Voldemort might be gone but the price was pieces of Sirius' heart.

Remus thought his heart would break. Lily and James were a part of his family – a part of his pack. He couldn't lose them. They were his lifeline; they made the full moons easier and they made living in the prejudice wizarding world easier. Hearing Sirius' cries of anguish tore through him even more. He would never be the same again if they died; Remus might lose another pack member and the wolf inside of him cried in agony over the future loss.

Lily and James were shocked. They weren't sure how they should react. They knew that they might die in the war, but to here that they had died... it was a strange feeling. Perhaps they were simply in shock at the news, but they just couldn't seem to feel very distraught about it. It wasn't until they registered the crying of Sirius and Remus that they felt the full weight of what happened. They had died and left everything. They had left Sirius and Remus and _Harry_. Harry was going to grow up without his parents. They were being ripped away from him before they were able to raise him; before they were able to _know_ him. And so they cried and mourned for their loss and for their families loss.

"Oh Lily," Alice whispered hoarsely when she saw her crying friend. She couldn't fight back the tears that had gathered in her eyes and she didn't try to. Frank held her close to him as she cried, tears falling silently from his eyes. Fabian and Gideon sat close by to them, both with their heads in their hands as they silently grieved for their friends.

Snape was in shock. He couldn't believe that Lily was going to die. The Dark Lord was going to kill her; his ex-best friend, the girl that he secretly loved. He couldn't let that happen. He would beg for her life to the Dark Lord if he had to. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see that Regulus was standing behind him. Regulus had been the only person he had told about Lily, and now he was there, standing with him and giving him silent support. Severus didn't think he had ever been so grateful to anyone else as he let his tears fall silently.

Harry and his friends had gotten up from their seats and moved over towards the fireplace after _that_ line had been read. He had never known his parents and it had been Over fifteen years since they died, but it was still hard to hear about. Ever since third year when he had been forced to hear his parents being murdered, he had become more sensitive to the subject. Being here with them, seeing them alive and laughing and crying and _real_, made it hurt even more. He was glad to have his friends support.

It was about ten minutes later, after everyone had calmed down, that Harry decided to speak up, "We should start reading again," he said tiredly, "We can finish up this chapter and then take a break for lunch."

Though they were all feeling rather drained, everyone agreed and they all returned to their seats. Hermione picked the book up and opened it to the correct page and began reading.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. **"**Lily and James... I can't believe it... I don't want to believe it... oh, Albus..."**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.**

"WHAT!?" James and Lily yelled, breaking out of their mild depression in their anger and forcing Remus to cover his ears.

"He better not have laid a hand on my son," James growled.

"How dare he," Lily was absolutely furious. She felt like she might explode with rage. Fortunately for her Harry spoke up before she could.

"I'm fine mu-" Harry cut himself off. He couldn't bring himself to call his parent mum and dad. He didn't really know them yet and he was overwhelmed by the fact that they were there, with him. He could tell that Neville and Atlas felt the same way and it made him feel a little better; not as selfish, "I'm fine. He didn't hurt me."

Lily and James looked at each other briefly, having caught Harry's slip. It hurt a little to know that he didn't feel like he could call them mum and dad, but they understood and were willing to give him all the time he needed.

They both nodded their heads in acknowledgment of Harry's words and Hermione continued reading.

**But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone." Dumbledore nodded glumly. **"**It's - it's **_**true**_**?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all ****he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"Yes. I'd quite like to know that myself," Lily said, looking at her son in astonishment and curiosity.

"**We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"Oh he knows. He just doesn't want to tell anybody," Harry said.

"Do you know?" Frank asked curiously and the rest of the room turned to hear his answer.

"Yes. Dumbledore told me at the end of first year," he answered making it obvious that he wasn't going to tell them.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers, instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall, "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_ **you're here, of all places?"**

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"No!" Lily yelled as she jumped from her seat, "They're horrible people that hate magic. He can't go there."

"Calm down Lily," James said pulling his wife into his lap, "We can change this. That's why we were sent these books. To change the future, to make it better."

This calmed Lily down quite a bit and lifted the hearts of the rest of the room's occupants. They could change everything. They could save Lily and James and anyone else who dies.

"**You don't mean - you **_**can't**_ **mean the people who live **_**here**_**?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four, "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!**"

"Thanks for trying professor," Harry told the book. His parents looked at him sadly and wished that McGonagall could have swayed Dumbledore's mind.

"**It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain ****everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter!?" Remus exclaimed, "How could you possibly explain all of this in a letter?"

"Isn't that illegal?" Atlas asked suddenly.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Harry grew up in the Muggle world, so he had to follow Muggle rules. Shouldn't the Dursleys have had to go through several legal processes in order to get Harry in their custody. I don't think you can just take in a baby that shows up on your doorstep, even if they are your nephew."

"No. I don't think so either, but that's of little importance now, since its not going to happen," Hermione said.

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall, "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future -**

"Oh please, tell me it's not," Harry begged and his friends laughed at the face he was making.

"No mate," Ron said, sniggering, "There was a petition, but they were shot down."

"Thank goodness," Harry sighed in relief.

**there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

"**Exactly., said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses, "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"Considering he's Potter's brat that's a pretty good bet," Snape sneered causing the three marauders in the room to growl and all of Harry's friends to glare angrily at him.

"He's my child too Severus," Lily said waspishly, "And if they wanted to make sure it didn't get to his head, they could have sent him to somebody else that wouldn't mistreat him. Do you really wish your child hood on him?" It was a low blow and Lily felt bad when she saw her old friend flinch, but she stood by her resolve. She knew Severus was stubborn and he wouldn't see things as they were and not as he wanted unless you brutally slapped him in the face with it.

When Snape didn't say anything more, Hermione continued.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"Ugh. I hope not," Harry muttered. Ron who heard him nodded his head in agreement.

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**

"**You think it - **_**wise**_ **- to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"Hey! Hagrid's trust worthy!" James yelled offended on behalf of his friend. Most of the room agreed with him, though Draco and Snape snorted earning them glares from Hagrid's supporters.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"**

"Oh dear. I don't think I can take anymore surprises," Lily said worriedly and squeezed James' hand.

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at he sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

Lily and James breathed a sigh of relief; Lily because it wasn't anything dangerous and James because he was getting the feeling back in his hand.

"Hey, That's my bike!" Sirius yelled happily.

"Since when have you had a bike?" James asked, rubbing his hand slightly while Lily gave him a sheepish grin.

"I just got it before the meeting. I was planning on telling you afterwards."

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild**_ **- long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was ****holding a bundle of blankets.**

"**Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved, "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke, "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"**No problems, were there?"**

"**No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles stared swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"Aw," Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Alice cooed.

Harry blushed deeply at the attention while his friends laughed at his misfortune. Draco had also laughed quietly, though it was crueler than the other. They, however had decided to ignore him for the time being.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lighting.**

As one, all of the people from the past turned to look at the scar. After a few seconds Harry began to feel uncomfortable and tried to brush his hair over the scar. When the group realized what they were doing, they quickly tuned away with sheepish apologies.

"**Is that where - ?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore, "He'll have that scar forever."**

"**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"I wish," Harry muttered unconsciously rubbing his forehead where the scar was.

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

"That is-" Fabian started.

"-so cool," Gideon finished.

"Why would Dumbledore need a map of the London underground?" Lily asked.

"I'd rather know how he _got_ the map to the London underground," Atlas asked looking slightly disturbed.

**Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with." Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house.**"

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"Hey. I take offense to that!" Sirius shouted. James, Remus, and Lily shook their heads at his antics while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Atlas laughed quietly.

"Why do you take offense to that?" Alice asked. The rest of the room also looked quite curious.

Sirius blushed a little before clearing his throat and answering, "I'm a dog lover. I hate hearing references to wounded ones."

"**Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

"**S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it, "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor ****McGonagall whispered, patting Hadrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.**

"He left you on the doorstep!?" Lily and James yelled, furious with the headmaster. Sirius and Remus growled angrily, Alice and Frank were astounded, and the twins were muttering angrily to themselves about payback.

Regulus, Snape, and Draco were very surprised with the act as they took the safety of children very seriously in the wizarding world. They might not have had a particular like of the headmaster, but they did believe him to be honorable. To leave a child outside on a doorstep was unthinkable.

"I can't believe him!" Hermione yelled, "It was November and there was a rain forecast!"

"Their were Death Eaters still running around too," Neville said angrily, remembering that it was after Voldemort's fall that his parents were attacked.

"Plus there are Muggle creeps or hungry dogs that could have gotten to him too," Atlas said, very upset that his friend was just left completely unprotected.

"Maybe we should continue reading," Harry said looking very disturbed at what Atlas had said. He hadn't thought of the non-magical things that could have happened and being eaten by dogs was a really disturbing thought. Sirius looked appalled at the very idea.

"But Harry-" Hermione started.

"Look, I know it's bad. I'm pretty disturbed about it too, but we can't do anything about it now and since I'm here we know nothing happened."

Everyone was still upset about the incident, but they understood Harry's logic and agreed with him.

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle, Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

"Join the Celebrations?" Sirius asked incredulously, "Two of your friends die and you leave their orphaned son, my godson, on a doorstep, where anything can happen, and then go off to celebrate? What is wrong with you!?"

"How do you know your the godfather Sirius?" Lily asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Because you don't have any really close male friends and since Moony's a werewolf and the stupid ministry won't let him be godfather, that only leaves me," Sirius explained easily, "Unless you want Wormy as the godfather?" He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Don't worry pads, your definitely godfather," James assured.

Everyone but Remus missed the angry and disgusted looks on the golden Harry and his friends faces at the mention of Wormtail being Harry's godfather. Remus narrowed his eyes a bit, but decided not to mention anything just yet.

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor ****McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall, " said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver put-outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four. **"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

"That's the end," Hermione announced as she closed the book and set it on the table in front of her.

"Great, I'm starving!" Sirius, Ron, and Atlas yelled as they ran to the dining room.

"Your _always_ starving!" Hermione and Remus yelled to their respective friends as they and the rest of the group followed the trio to the other room.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will be sure to have the next chapter out on April 15, which is next Monday.**

**~Yua-hime~**


	3. Chapter 2

******A/N: Okay, Here's chapter two! I would like to thank everybody who have decided to follow and favorite this story. It really makes me happy that so many people seem to be enjoying it.**

******I would like to give special thanks to Johanni93 and cyclops1340 who have reviewed my story. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.**

******You may precede to the story after this brief disclaimer.**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of J.K. Rowling and her affiliates. I do not intend to infringe on anybody's rights and the following story is made for pure enjoyment and does not make any profit. The only thing I do own is Atlas my OC and the parts he plays in this rendition of Harry Potter.**

* * *

The dining room was very large and roomy. It had creamy yellow walls and dark brown, hard wood floors. There were two lines of cabinets on the far wall that held the table ware they would need. In between them was a door, which presumably lead to the kitchen, in case anyone wished to cook. There were several pictures on either side of the room, most of them consisting of fruit bowls and flower baskets. In the center of the room was a large wooden table surrounded by sixteen cushioned dining chairs.

Sirius, Ron, and Atlas were already pulling out plates and goblets from the cabinets when the rest of the group came in. Everyone except Severus and Draco helped the three gather the dishes and set them at the table. Each person took a seat corresponding to their seating arrangements in the living room. Remus sat at the left end of the table facing the entryway. Next was Neville, Atlas, Regulus, Snape, Draco, James, and Lily. Sitting across from Remus was Ron. Next to him was Hermione, Harry, Alice, Frank, Fabian, Gideon, and Sirius.

The group sat in silence for a moment until Fabian decided to speak up, "So, how are these things supposed to work again?" He asked holding up his plate and goblet.

"The letter said that you just tell it what you want and it will appear," Atlas said.

"Either that or we all end up looking like a bunch of idiots," Sirius said.

"You don't need any help on that front, Black," Severus said. Draco laughed and Regulus let out a small chuckle.

Before Sirius could reply Atlas spoke up again, "It'll work," he said matter of factly.

"How do you know?" Alice asked curiously.

"I just do."

Most of the room looked at him confused, but his friends just shrugged and excepted it. Harry looked at his plate, trying to think of something good to eat and decided he would start out simple.

"Shepherd's pie," he said to the plate. A second later his food appeared much like the food at Hogwarts. He then turned to his goblet and said, "Pumpkin juice."

The rest of the group quickly began ordering their food and drinks when they saw that Harry's demonstration had worked. Once everyone's plates were full they ate in an uncomfortable silence until someone spoke up.

"So," James began awkwardly, "Harry, do you play quidditch?"

Harry startled at his dad's questioned and looked at him for a moment before he answered, "Quidditch? It's not really my thing," he said nonchalantly.

Atlas who had been taking a drink of his water, began choking in surprise at Harry's answer. Everyone looked at him concerned, but he waved them off, "I'm all right. Just went down the wrong way," he said when he had finished coughing.

"You – you don't like quidditch?" James asked disbelievingly.

"I don't mind watching it sometimes, but I've never been interested in playing," Harry shrugged trying to conceal his laughter.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Lily said and frowned at James who looked to be in shock, "It doesn't matter to us if you play quidditch or not."

"R-right," James said shaking himself and looking seriously at Harry, "It doesn't matter at all." Harry smiled slightly at them, glad to know his dad would learn to live with it, had he not been pranking them.

No more conversation was made. Everyone was still too unsure around each other to make conversation when the book was not pulling at their emotions. The atmosphere was less tense, however, and they were able to eat in peace and think about what was to come in the reading.

It was nearing two-thirty when everyone finished their meals and took their plates and goblets into the kitchen to be washed later. When they were all gathered in their seats in the reading room, Hermione spoke up.

"Who wants to read next?"

Before anyone could answer, Atlas spoke up, "I think we should each draw numbers to determine who reads when."

"What if we don't want to read about saint Potter," Draco asked with a scowl.

"First of all, that's not a very insulting insult, Draco. Saints are very revered and noble peole within the Catholic church, so really your just complementing Harry," Atlas said with a frown at his cousin. Draco scowled even more deeply and a light blush appeared on his cheeks, while the other Hogwarts students, the twins, Sirius, and James laughed a little, "Second, we were all called here for a reason. I think we should all participate in the reading. You don't have to comment, but reading will let everyone feel more comfortable around each other and it gives everyone a chance to rest their voices."

"I think it's a good Idea."

Surprisingly it was Regulus that said this. Everyone looked at him in surprise, except for Atlas, who looked grateful and gave him a small smile. Regulus returned the smile.

"Alright, it's a good idea, but why do we have to draw numbers?" Sirius asked, "Why not just let everyone choose when they read?"

"It's more fair this way," Lily explained, understanding Atlas' idea, "If we draw numbers it's all random. We won't have to fight over who reads, because there will already be an order."

"Makes since," Gideon said nodding.

"Hermione already read, so she's already in position one. We just need to make numbers two through sixteen," Frank said.

"Great idea, except we don't have any paper or pens," Fabian pointed out. Just as he said this there was a small poof of light blue smoke and a stack of parchments and several self inking quills appeared on the coffee table in front of him.

"Okay, that was cool," Fabian said as Lily picked up the parchments and a quill.

"It must be like the Room of Requirement," Hermione said intrigued.

"What's the Room of Requirement?" Remus asked.

"You'll find out in fifth year," Harry said. Remus huffed a little disappointed, but let it go.

"Alright," Lily said, "I've written the numbers on the parchment, we'll all take a number and read in that order."

"Okay," Hermione said, after everyone had draw their numbers and showed them to each other, "So the order will be Atlas, Ron, Fabian, James, Lily, Snape, Regulus, Harry, Alice, Neville, Gideon, Malfoy, Frank, Remus, Sirius, and then I'll start the order over again." Everyone nodded in acceptance of this and Hermione handed Atlas the book.

"**Chapter two,**" Atlas read.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different - colored bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"Please tell me, someone came to get you. Someone like me," Sirius begged to Harry.

"Sorry, but I'm still there."

"If he had been taken away, we wouldn't still be reading about the Muggles, Black," Snape said condescendingly.

"I know that, Snivellus," Sirius growled, "It's called wishful thinking."

**Yet, Harry Potter stilled lived there, asleep at the moment, but not for long.**

**His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day. **

"**Up! Get up! Now!"**

Lily winced having been woken up the same way several times before.

"Petunia always did have a horrible voice," Severus said with a grimace.

"I feel for you," Atlas said sympathetically, "My grandmother wakes me up the same way."

"You live with your grandparents?" Regulus asked.

"Yeah," Atlas said looking at him with an expression that Regulus couldn't quite decipher.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" she screeched.**

**Harry heard her walking back toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.**

Harry groaned. He did not want anyone to find this out. He'd never told any of his friends, though he suspected that Atlas already knew, probably having _seen_ it. He wasn't really trying to hide it, he just knew that everybody was going to make a huge deal about it. It was in the past now and it didn't really bother him anymore.

"Your bedroom is on the first floor?" Lily asked.

"Er, sort of," he answered. Harry noticed Atlas giving him a knowing look. He guessed he was right about him knowing then.

**He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been dreaming. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"How do you remember something like that?" Hermione asked amazed.

"I don't know. I just do," Harry replied, looking a bit perplexed.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"Geez woman, give him a minute," Ron said angrily and most of the room nodded in agreement.

"**Nearly," said Harry.**

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

"They made you cook?" Lily asked angrily, "You could have burned yourself."

"They didn't really care, in fact they'd probably be happy if I did," Harry said with a shrug. He'd long ago stopped caring about the Dursleys and how they treated him. He had a family that really cared about him now and if he was lucky, he'd never have to worry about the Dursleys again.

The room was filled with growls and even Severus looked appalled. It was beginning to sound like his childhood.

Draco was still clinging to the idea that Harry was an arrogant spoiled brat and that he was just playing things up to gain sympathy.

**Harry groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"**Nothing, nothing..."**

**Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten. Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under is bed and, after pulling a spider**

Ron and Alice shuddered at the mention of spiders.

"Dude," Ron hissed.

Harry snickered a little, but it sounded forced, "Sorry Ron, but I didn't realize that anyone was going to be reading my thoughts aloud."

**off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

The room was in an instant uproar. Sirius and Remus were growling threats under their breath Lily was yelling insults at the book and causing Atlas to cringe back as he was the one reading. Snape was once again reminded of his own childhood and couldn't believe that Lily's son was being forced to go through the same thing. Hermione and Ron were looking at Harry in shock while he slumped on his beanbag to try and hide from the attention. Even Draco was shocked about Harry's treatment, though he was still loathe to let go of his rivalry quite yet.

It wasn't until James spoke that the room quieted.

"What?" James uttered the word in a low whisper but it sent shivers down everyone's spine. It was well known that Lily had a temper. It was a burning type of rage, something that could force men of much larger stature to cower in fear when it turned on them. This was the temper that Harry was known for as well.

James' temper wasn't well known. In fact most people were under the misguided impression that he was too laid back to have a temper. It was true that he was laid back and it was difficult to get him truly angry, but when he did get angry he was far scarier than Lily could every be. When he was angry he appeared calm. His anger showed itself as a cold fury; a raging storm behind the eyes. This was the anger that the room was being exposed to now.

"How dare they," he growled, "How dare they treat my son that way and how dare Dumbledore allow it." He was furious. He couldn't believe that anyone would do such a thing to his son. He wasn't sure if he could keep himself in control. He could feel his magic writhing within him trying to escape, even without his wand.

Lily noticed that he was losing control and tried to calm him down, but as she wasn't in a very calm state herself she wasn't really helping.

"If you need a few minutes alone," Atlas said startling James a little, "I think you can use one of those rooms. I think they're bedrooms."

James looked to his left and saw the line of four doors. There were name tags on them, though they were blank. James nodded at Atlas before getting up silently and making his way to the second door on the left side of the wall. Shortly after he had entered the room the group heard a large explosion and Lily ran in after James.

Most of the room was unsure of what to do, but as Remus and Sirius seemed relatively calm, or as calm as they were before James' outburst, the rest of the room decided not to worry either. While they waited, Ron and Hermione decided to interrogate Harry.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione asked accusingly.

"I didn't think it was important," Harry said uncomfortably.

"Not important? Mate they made you sleep in a cupboard," Ron said angry at the Dursleys fro what they had done to his friends.

"Gee Ron I hadn't noticed," Harry bit. He was very aware of the people looking at them and he wished that his friends would leave him alone. He was very grateful when Atlas spoke up.

"Maybe you guys should continue this later?" he suggested, knowing how uncomfortable Harry must be feeling.

Hermione looked at him and glared fiercely, "Did you know?" she asked.

Atlas was a bit startled by her tone, but answered her question, "Yes, I knew."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked angry that their friend had kept something so important about Harry from them.

"Because it wasn't my place to tell and Harry obviously didn't want anyone to know."

Hermione was about to say something, but Harry cut her off, "It's not Atlas' fault, so don't go biting his head off," he glared at them. He didn't want to go into this in front of everyone, but he didn't want Atlas getting in trouble even more, "I'm glad he didn't tell you. I didn't want anyone to know, because I didn't want people to treat me like the Dursleys did. I was afraid that if anyone found out how worthless the Dursleys thought I was they would also think that I wasn't worth their time."

"We would never-" Ron and Hermione started but were cut off again.

"I know you wouldn't _now_, but at the time, you were the first friends I had ever had. By the time I had gotten to where I knew you wouldn't leave me I had been out of the cupboard and I didn't think it was necessary to tell you. I wasn't actively hiding after first year, I just didn't think anything the Dursleys did to me really mattered once I was with my real family."

Ron and Hermione looked shocked and pleased and Atlas had a small smile on his face.

"I suppose that makes since," Hermione said, "But you should still tell us these things. We want to know, because we think of you as family too. If something like this happened with one of us, you'd want to know wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I would," Harry acquiesced, "But your going to find out everything while reading these books. I'd really rather not go over it twice." Ron and Hermione nodded their heads in understanding and the room descended into silence as everyone waited for Lily and James.

It was about ten minutes later that Lily and James left the room. James was looking much calmer when he sat down.

"Sorry about that," James said sheepishly rubbing a hand through his messy hair, "Please continue Atlas."

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

"Why would he want a racing bike?" Regulus asked, "He doesn't seem the type to like exercising."

"I dunno," Harry said with a shrug.

"You know what a racing bike it?" Sirius asked astonished.

"Yes. I have been to the Muggle world you know."

"Right," Sirius replied with slightly narrowed eyes on his brother. Regulus was acting awfully strange since they'd been here. He'd have to watch more closely to be sure, but he seemed to be acting like he used to, before he'd entered Hogwarts and began to soak up their parents ideals.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

**Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry,**

There were many growls around the room at this sentence and most of the people were cursing the Dursleys under their breath.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"Got that right. It's bloody annoying trying to keep up with him," Ron said and Hermione, Neville, and Atlas nodded their heads in agreement.

"That's good. James was always very fast too," Remus said with a slight smile at Harry.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"Both me and James were tall for our age, so it's possible," Lily said frowning, "Fortunately Hogwarts food is supplemented with extra nutrients for students to help keep them at their best while using their magic."

"That might actually explain a few things," Hermione said thoughtfully, "You didn't produce the best magic the first couple of years. Maybe the extra nutrients and your magic was trying to fix your body, so your spell work suffered."

"That seems likely," Lily said.

"Then how was I able to-" Harry began, but cut himself off and looked at the people from the past.

"Magic seems to have some will of its own so it's possible that your magic decided that it was more important to work on _that_ than fixing your malnutrition at the time," Atlas said thoughtfully already knowing that Harry was asking about his patronus training in third year.

The rest of the room looked curious about what they were talking about, but decided that the teens wouldn't tell them anything, so didn't ask.

**He looked even smaller and skinner then he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger then he was.**

"Those lazy pigs," Alice said angrily, "Can't they at least get you decent clothes?!"

"No. That would take effort," Sirius sneered.

**Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"A carbon copy of your father, except with your mother's eyes," Remus said with a smile.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tap because of all times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

Most of the room growled, but decided not to comment. They understood that they were going to be hearing a lot about how the Dursleys mistreated Harry and decided that it wouldn't be worth it to react to every single thing. Harry was quite thankful for this.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lighting.**

"You liked it?" Ron said incredulously.

"Hah!" Draco said triumphantly, '_I knew he was all about getting attention,_' he thought happy he had found a reason to hold onto his hatred of Harry. The room ignored him while Atlas just sighed sadly at his behavior.

Snape sneered a little and thought, '_Just like his big headed father._'

"I didn't know what it meant or how I'd really gotten it," Harry replied.

"What do you mean 'how you'd really gotten it'?" Lily asked with a frown.

Harry sighed, "I'm sure it's in the book."

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

"**In the car crash when your parents had died," she had said.**

"CAR CRASH!" The room yelled in outrage.

"There's no way that a simple car crash could kill Lily and James Potter!" Fabian yelled. He and his brother had been great friends with the marauders in school and they were quite fond of Lily. They couldn't believe that anyone could be so cruel to their son, especially Lily's own sister.

"I can't believe she lied to you!" Lily said fuming.

James pulled her to him and tried to calm her down, "I know its despicable, but I'm pretty sure that there are going to be more incidents like this throughout the books. I think we should try not to react too badly."

"Try not to react, how could I-" James cut her off.

"It's making Harry uncomfortable, and we're scaring Atlas, considering we usually end up yelling at the book."

Lily calmed slightly as she looked at the two aforementioned boys. Harry was squirming slightly in his seat and Atlas was cringing back into his, holding the book in front of him like a shield as if he feared he would be hit.

"Alright I'll try," she said, then she looked at Atlas, "You can continue reading."

"Er, right," he said and continued.

"**And don't ask questions."**

**Don't ask questions – that was the first rule for a quite life with the Dursleys.**

"Is that why you never ask questions during lessons Harry?" Hermione asked curious, yet appalled that anyone would be told not to ask questions; to seek knowledge.

"Yeah, kind of," he answered, "I know I can, I'm just so used to not asking questions that I don't."

"We'll just have to break the habit then," Lily said.

"If this spell works like its supposed to, there won't be a habit to break," Remus said and everyone smiled hopefully at the thought.

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted at Harry need a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place.**

"Sorry Harry. Looks like you got the Potter curse," James said while rubbing a hand through his hair ruefully.

"Curse?" Harry asked.

"Yep," Sirius answered for James with a grin, "All male, and some female, Potters fall for red heads and have really messy hair that can't be tamed."

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much nick, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

The room laughed at the description and comparison.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"I can't believe he's complaining about getting so much," Frank said with a disbelieving shake of his head.

"Even _I_ don't get that much," Draco said with slightly wide eyes.

His year mates looked at him disbelievingly and Ron snorted, "Yeah right. You probably get ten times as much."

Draco just rolled his eyes, "I don't really care if you believe me or not Weasel, but my mother wouldn't allow me to get that much stuff."

Atlas decided to continue reading when he saw Ron open his mouth to say something else that would most likely start a fight.

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this one from mommy and daddy."**

"**Alright, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"I can't believe they let him get away with that kind of behavior," Alice said.

"Can you imagine what would have happened if we ever acted like that with our mother?" Sirius asked his brother hoping to make things a little more comfortable between them since they were going to be spending a lot of time together.

Regulus shuddered at the thought, "Thanks. I totally needed that image in my head," Regulus said sarcastically. He looked at his brother a little confused, and happy, at his relatively friendly tone.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two new presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that alright?"**

"Really, Tuney? Really?" Lily asked in disbelief and disappointment of her sister.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty... thirty..."**

"What an idiot," Gideon said, "He can't even count."

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"**Oh," Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

"**Little tyke want's his money worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"I don't think that being like you, Dursley, is a compliment," James said with a role of his eyes at the behavior.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. **

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking angry and worried.**

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him."**

**She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"He's got a name you know," Neville said glaring at the book. Everyone looked at him in surprise and he blushed. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Harry smiled at him, "No need to apologize. Thanks."

"Jeez, Neville, you've got one scary glare," Atlas said and Neville blushed more deeply.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cat's she'd ever owned.**

"Ugh. It sounds like torture," Sirius said shivering and his friends laughed at him.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he ****reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"Don't blame you there pup," Sirius said without thinking.

"Pup?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows.

"Uh, yeah. You know...because of..." he trailed off awkwardly and waved his hand around, not sure what to say. The word had just slipped out and now he wasn't sure how to explain the term of endearment without revealing his secret.

"I see," Harry said understandingly, "Don't worry I already know about your secret."

"You do?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Yeah, the four of us-" he pointed towards Ron, Hermione, and Atlas, "-find out about it during third year. It's going to be in the books."

"Oh," he said looking resigned at his two friends, who looked the same.

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

"Isn't that the one that you..." Ron said trailing off at the end so as not to alert anyone to what happened.

"Yeah," Harry said with a chuckle.

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"Not too fond of her either," Harry said with a slight grimace.

**The Dursley often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend, Yvonne?"**

"**On vacation in Majorca," Snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"Good try, but I don't think that's going to work," Regulus said.

"Yeah. I don't even know why I tried," he said shaking his head.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she just swallowed a lemon.**

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."**

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."**

"I can't believe he's more worried about his car than you," Hermione said to Harry.

The rest of the room decided not to comment, knowing that they wouldn't be able to stop once they started.

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying – it had been years since he'd really cried – but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"**Dinky Duddydums,**

The whole room laughed.

"That's terrible," Sirius said laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

"I'm never going to complain about the nicknames the twins give me again," Ron said once he had caught his breath.

**don't cry, mummy wont let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"**I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" he shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "oh, good lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hits them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"There obviously not real friends then," Remus said smiling at his friends, who smiled back, "They won't care about something like that if their real friends."

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursley's car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

"Don't worry, we'll go plenty when we change the future, and then we'll go together," Lily said.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"You had better not touch him," James growled as the rest of the room glowered at the book.

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly..."**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursley he didn't make them happen.**

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he already was laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

"Probably the only good thing about our hair." James said.

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).**

"That is revolting," Draco said with a disgusted look on his face. When he looked at the group he noticed his year mates were looking at him strangely, except for Atlas who was smiling at him. He rolled his eyes, "Oh would you quit looking at me like that every time I comment. I am allowed."

"Yeah, but we didn't think you could comment without insulting us," Ron said still staring at Draco, who just glared.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"That's good," Lily and James said at the same time, looking relieved.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"Did you just apparate?" Fabian asked him in surprise.

"No, It didn't feel like apparition. I think I flew," Harry said thoughtfully.

"That's possible. I flew before I went to Hogwarts," Lily said.

**The Dursleys had received a very angrily letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jumped behind the big trashcans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"Really Harry?" Hermione asked amused.

"What?" Harry asked slightly defensively, "That's what it felt like. I couldn't exactly explain it any other way."

Hermione still looked amused along with the rest of the room and Harry pouted.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even wroth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. **

**This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"**... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

"Harry," Harry's friends, parents, godfather, and adoptive uncle groaned. Harry blushed deeply.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking question, it was talking about anything acting an a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"Maybe we should watch some of these cartoons deer brother of mine," Fabian said grinning.

"Yes, I think we should," Gideon replied.

"Maybe we should join them Prongs," Sirius said.

"I like your thinking Padfoot."

"No way James. You are not watching cartoons." Lily said with a frown.

"Now Lily," Remus said with a sly smile, "You can't really stop him forever, unless your not going to allow Harry to watch them either?"

"Remus!" Lily exclaimed surprised that he would say something so sneaky.

"Sorry Lily," Remus shrugged not looking sorry at all, "But I am a marauder."

Lily pouted a little at being outsmarted and the rest of the room chuckled a little at the banter.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowed with families. The Dursley brought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.**

"I always liked those," Lily and Hermione said together and then smiled at each other.

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

**Harry had the beast morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

"Good idea mate," Ron said nodding his head in agreement with his friends decision.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

"Something bad is going to happen isn't it?" James asked.

"What makes you say that?" Alice asked curiously.

"Because as unfortunate as it is to say, things seem to be going too well," James said.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

"I knew it," James groaned.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house.**

"Oh great," Harry groaned. He knew what was coming up and he was worried about how his parents were going to react.

"Don't worry Harry," Hermione whispered to him; she could guess what was cominng up, "They'll understand."

Harry could only manage to give her a weak smile.

**It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all long the wall. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can – but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered.**

"I can't believe that he's ordering his father around or that his father is letting him," Remus said shaking his head in disapproval.

**Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

"Man, pup, that's really depressing," Sirius said sadly.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

**It winked.**

"It winked?" Lily asked uncertainly, "But snakes don't have eyelids."

Snape and Regulus were thinking the same thing, '_ He's a parselmouth_.'

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quick plainly:**

"**I get it all the time."**

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

"Your a parselmouth!?" James exclaimed in utmost surprise. The rest of the people from the past were staring at Harry in shock, except Snape and Regulus who were nodding in conformation of their earlier thoughts. Harry's friends were looking at him with comforting and encouraging looks.

"Yeah," Harry said hesitantly, "Is that a problem?"

"What!?" James and Lily asked surprised, snapping out of their shock.

"Of course it's not a problem," James continued, "I'm just confused about how you got it. We've never had a parselmouth in the family and Lily is a muggleborn, so how did you get it?"

"Well, Dumbledore explains it in second year. Sorry I can't tell you now," Harry said apologetically.

"Dumbledore might be right about how you got your ability, but you could just be a natural Parselmouth," Atlas said thoughtfully.

"You can't be a parselmouth without being related to a parselmouth, Black," Draco drawled.

"Then where did the first parselmouth come from? You have to start somewhere," Atlas said frowning at Draco, before he continued reading.

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa constrictor, Brazil.**

"**Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign** **again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"I can't believe that your actually talking to a snake about Brazil," Ron said to his friend, "How did you not realize that wasn't normal."

Harry just shrugged.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SANKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DONING!"**

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.**

"OI!" James yelled.

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. **

**Harry sat up and gasped, the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

"Yes!" Sirius, James, and the twins yelled.

"That's pretty impressive magic," Remus noted.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss. Amigo."**

"At least he's a polite snake," Lily said.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. "But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"That poor man," Alice said, "He must be so confused."

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweat tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but buy the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

"He just had to go and say that, didn't he?" Sirius said frowning.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak He managed to say, "Go – cupboard – stay – no meals,"**

"Excuse me!" Lily yelled. James was sheking slightly beside her and the rest of the room let out low growls.

"He had better have fed you or..." James cut himself off, too angry to finish his threat.

"Please continue Atlas," Sirius said once he had calmed down enough to speak.

**before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"Well, at least you got some of the marauder genes," James said, "Though I wish you didn't have to use them for something like this."

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained is memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

"You survived the Killing Curse?" Regulus asked incredulously. Everyone looked quite impressed.

"Er, yeah," Harry said.

"How?" Lily asked. Harry smiled at her.

"It should be explained at the end of the book," Harry answered.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all.**

"I'm sorry we couldn't be there for you," Lily said sadly, looking like she wanted to cry.

"It's not your fault. It's Voldemort's," Harry said quietly.

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. **

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.**

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.**

"Is that Diggle?" Regulus asked thinking back to the last chapter when Atlas had mentioned that the wizard would be mentioned several times in the books.

"Yeah, that's him," Harry answered.

Regulus nodded and he and Remus put the count of mentions/appearances to three.

**After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"They shouldn't be able to find him, should they?" Lily asked.

"No. Dumbledore sent him there to be hidden. If random wizards can find him, Death Eaters might be able to find him too," Frank said with a frown.

Lily and James looked at each other worriedly.

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Atlas said breathing a sigh of relief. He had a feeling that most of the chapters he read were going to be bad.

"Guess that means it's my turn," Ron said as he took the book from Atlas.

* * *

**A/N: The second chapter is done! Or third, however you want to count. I hope that you are all enjoying it so far and I hope you like my OC. I'm trying really hard not to make him a Gary Stu. I'm also trying really hard to keep everyone in character, so if I'm not, please let me know. If you have any questions about the story or my OC, you can either ask them in a review or PM me. I will try very hard to answer your questions unless it reveals a major part of the laot that I would rather not have anyone know. **

** I will have the next chapter up next Monday. I hope you all have a wonderful week!**

**~Yua-hime~**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank You so much for reading. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story so far and that your responses to Atlas are so positive. I would like everyone to know, as a couple of people have expressed concerns, that this story is in no way a Dumbledore bashing story, or an anyone bashing story. I'm only having people react as I think they would when hearing the information in the books. None of the characters, my OC included, are going to hate Dumbledore. This being said, Dumbledore's a good man, but he makes mistakes. I don't plan on glossing over his mistakes just to keep everyone happy with him. They're not going to worship the ground he walks on; they're going to get angry and might even want to give him a good smack, but they'll still love him and care about him as a friend and mentor. The same can be roughly said about all characters that make mistakes in the books. I want the reactions to be real even if it means having some of the characters see others in an unfavorable light for a short time.**

**Now that that's over with, I would like to thank everyone who has decided to follow and favorite this story.**

**I would like to give special thanks to Johanni93, AwsomeReaderAndWriter 357, mfmxxx and my two guest reviewers for taking their time to review**

**Answer to Guest Reviewer "unknown"- You asked if Regulus and Sirius, knew which one of them is the father of Atlas. The answer is no, though it will likely become apparent to the readers who the father is quite quickly (I'm not very good at subterfuge). Neither brother will know who the father is until Atlas reveals it or the books reveal it (which won't be until the third book). This being said Sirius will have a girlfriend, but she will not be a big part of the reading section of the books. She won't show up in the books at all, but may be mentioned in passing. The same can be said for Adeline, Regulus' girlfriend.**

**This sentence has no purpose other than to get the line break working and to say that it has no purpose. Enjoy the Reading!**

* * *

"**Chapter Three**," Ron read.

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

"How far away is Dudley's birthday from the summer holidays?" Lily asked in a deceptively calm voice. Harry mumble something under his breath.

"Speak a little louder Harry," James said in a low voice.

"About three weeks," He said just loud enough for everyone to here.

"I see," Lily said. Both she and James, as well as Sirius and Remus, looked like they were going to explode, but after a minute of silence Ron decided it was time to move on.

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"That's got to be the stupidest logic I have ever heard," James said.

"Isn't that the same logic that you use Potter?" Snape sneered.

"Course not. Wormy would be leader then," Sirius said, rather amiably considering who he was talking to. Nobody noticed the darkening faces of the Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Atlas.

**The rest of them were quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.**

"How about some Dursley Hunting?" the twins said grinning evilly.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry, "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

"Don't you dare," Sirius said with narrowed eyes.

"**No, thanks," said Harry, "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

"That's great!" Sirius said while laughing. James and the twins were laughing so hard they were almost rolling on the ground.

"You've definitely got your fathers wit. He's always been able to come up with the best comebacks," Remus said.

"Really?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said once he got himself under control, "You should have heard some of the things him and your mother said to each other in the common room before James started liking her." Lily and James blushed and glared at Sirius.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's.**

**Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before.**

"Well at least there's that," Sirius said, happy his godson didn't have to be surrounded by cats all the time.

"Yeah, It was much nicer there," Harry said with a small smile.

**She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"The chocolate..." Remus said in horror.

"Er, I don't get it," Ron said looking at Remus oddly.

James laughed a bit before answering, "Remus here, is a chocoholic."

"I am not!" Remus said petulantly.

"Yes you are," the group from the past said as one.

Remus pouted and Ron continued reading.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. **

The entire room laughed at the absurd image the words described.

"That sounds r-ridiculous," Draco gasped out, for once not sneering.

"Oh, believe me it was," Harry said grinning.

Once they got their bearings the two boys looked at each other in surprise when they realized with whom they'd been talking to. They then looked away from each other in disgust, unable to believe that they had just been civil and – as horrible as it sounded – almost _friendly_.

Atlas, who had been watching the two enemies smile at them and thought, '_They're going to be great friends by the time the reading is over._'

**They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

"That's horrible!" Lily and Alice yelled together, appalled.

"How on earth could that be good training for later in life?" Remus and Hermione asked.

"They sound kind of like our wands," Atlas said thoughtfully.

"What!?" Draco and Ron said together and then looked disgusted with themselves.

"I just meant that I can see similarities. We learn to use our wands to fight for later in life," Atlas tried to explain himself.

"It's not the same at all!" Fabian and Gideon said, sounding offended.

"I didn't say it was the _same_, I said it was _similar_. They don't mean the same thing. As for their sticks, they're obviously not the same thing and that school is seriously warped, but it does remind me of our wands," Atlas sighed when he saw that most of the rooms looks hadn't changed. "Obviously I can't explain myself very well, so just forget what I said. I wasn't trying to offend anyone," he said and motioned for Ron to continue.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up.**

"She's delusional," Fabian, Gideon, and Ron said together. Ron looked at his uncles in surprise, but looked away with a small blush when he saw they were doing the same with him.

**Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

"I don't think I would have had the same self restraint," Sirius said.

"Obviously black," Snape sneered, "You don't have _any_ self restraint."

Sirius was about to say something, but was cut off by Regulus, "That's not quite true Severus," he said looking at his friend and ignoring the surprised looks he was getting, "If he didn't have any self restraint he would have been disowned much sooner that he was."

Sirius was surprised that his brother had defended him, though he frowned at the mention of his disownment. He had a lot to think about. He motioned for Ron to continue.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.**

"Ew," Alice said wrinkling her nose.

"**Whats this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

"Hmph," Hermione huffed at the mention of not being able to ask questions.

"**Your new school uniform," she said.**

"Oh, come on. You could at least buy him his uniform. It can't possibly cost that much," Frank said, exasperated with the woman and her husband.

**Harry looked in the bowl again.**

"**O****h," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"To bad she doesn't understand sarcasm," Snape said to him self, though most of the room heard anyway.

"I think it's a good thing she doesn't." Lily said, "If she did, Harry probably would have gotten into a lot of trouble."

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia, "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

"I wouldn't count on that," Fabian said.

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High – like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

"You certainly have a penchant for animal comparisons, don't you Harry?" Remus said.

"I guess. I never really thought much about it before," Harry said with a shrug.

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

"I hope that doesn't mean that he took it to the bathroom," Atlas said with a scrunched up face.

The rest of the room look disgusted and the look on Harry's face was enough of an answer.

"That's just sick," Ron said looking a little green.

**They heard the click of the mail slot and the flop of letters on the doormat.**

"**Get ****the**** mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"He's actually making that fat lump do something?" Alice said in surprise.

"I highly doubt it. He'll probably make Harry get it if Dudley tells him to," Frank told his wife.

"**Make Harry get it."**

"**Get the mail, Harry."**

"**Make Dudley get it."**

"Go Harry!" Sirius and the Prewett twins said together.

"Don't let him push you around," James said.

"**Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

"Don't you dare!" the group yelled.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and – _a letter for Harry_.**

"Your Hogwarts Letter!" Harry's parents, godfather, and honorary uncle said excitedly.

**Harry picked it and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives – he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**The Cupboard under the Stairs 4 Privet Drive**

**Little Whinging**

**Surrey**

"How could nobody have noticed that!" Lily yelled, outraged.

"I don't know for certain, but I think they have a self addressing quill, so they probably never see where the letters are going, unless they're muggleborns," Remus said.

"They do and they don't," Atlas said addressing both parts of Remus' statement.

"How do to know that?" Snape asked, sounding almost accusing, "I've studdied everything about Hogwarts and never came across anything that mentioned how the letters were sent. It's simply a theory on how it's done."

"Severus is right," Regulus said looking at Atlas calculatingly, "I've even asked the professors about it and they refused to answer. They said that nobody was to know in order to protect the students privacy."

"Er..." Atlas said, panicking a little. Fortunately he was saved from answering when Ron quickly began to read on.

Atlas shot him grateful look and Ron nodded his head almost imperceptibly back at him. He understood why Atlas didn't want anyone to know about him just yet, and he was determined to help his friend.

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.**

**There was no stamp.**

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter **_**H. **_

"**Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen, "What are you dong, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"I don't get it," Fabian said with a slight frown.

Lily rolled her eyes at the ridiculous joke, "That's because it wasn't funny."

"What's a letter bomb?" Gideon asked.

"Sometimes people put small bombs inside letters as a terrorist act. When someone opens the letter, the bomb explodes and kills or seriously injures them," Hermione explained.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter.**

"Oh, that's a bad idea," Sirius said.

"I know," Harry groaned, "I was so caught up in the fact that I had gotten a letter that I wasn't really paying attention."

**He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.**

"**Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk..."**

"Good," Harry muttered under his breath.

"Is that the one you..." Ron asked, trying to hold back a grin.

"Yeah," Harry said, suppressing his own grin.

"**Dad!" said Dudley suddenly, "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

"Shut up, you stupid fat git!" Ron yelled and many nodded in agreement.

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"**That's **_**mine**_**!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

"You tell him Harry!" James said.

"Uh-oh. Looks like Harry's about to lose his temper," Ron said.

"Who's temper does he have?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Lily's," all of Harry's friends, except Atlas, said together.

"I think he's got a bit of James in him. He's just not shown much of it yet," Atlas said.

Harry blushed a bit in embarrassment at the conversation topic. When he looked at his parents, he saw that they were also blushing.

"Perhaps we should continue reading," Lily said once she had gotten her blush under control.

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.**

"I don't think I'll be eating any porridge for a while," Neville said with a grimace. Ron nodded his head in agreement.

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!"**

"Petunia was always such a drama queen," Severus said.

"Doesn't seem as if she's changed much," Lily said nodding her head in agreement with Severus' statement.

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

"I can't believe he just did that," James said appalled at the behaviour.

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"_**I**_** want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's **_**mine**_**."**

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

**Harry didn't move.**

"Of course you didn't," Hermione said shaking her head fondly at her friend.

"**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"**Let **_**me**_** see it!" demanded Dudley.**

"**Out!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them.**

"Hey! Get your paws off my son," James yelled furiously. Harry smiled a bit at his father's defense of him.

**Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lat flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between the door and floor.**

"That's a better place anyway," Sirius said, "There's more room to listen and you can sometimes see how they're reacting by how they move their feet."

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address – how could they ****possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"**Watching – spying – might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"Stupid Muggle. We've got better things to do then follow you around all day," Draco said with a sneer.

"By the looks of it, though, we should have been following them," Frank said.

"Dumbledore should have kept an eye on him," Lily said.

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want -"**

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

"**No," he said finally, "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything..."**

"That's definitely not going to work," Remus said.

"He really should have listened to Petunia," Lily said, before looking at Harry, "Of course I'm glad he didn't, otherwise you might not have been allowed to go to Hogwarts. But Petunia knows about the magical world, so it would have been wiser for him if he'd listened to her."

"**But - "**

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

"Excuse me," James and Lily growled. The other occupants were either too shocked or too angry to speak.

"They didn't hit you did they?" Regulus asked in an icy voice.

"Er... No. They threatened to sometimes, but they never laid a hand on me," Harry said reassuring the room, though he looked a little startled having Regulus address him. The room relaxed immensely and after a few more seconds Ron continued to read.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. **"**Who's writing to me?" **

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

"I can't believe he could have burned something as precious as a Hogwarts letter," Alice said looking very angry.

"**It was **_**not**_ **a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling.**

Ron shuddered slightly as he read the word "spider" before giving Harry a slight glare. Harry just smiled back and motioned for him to continue.

**He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"I hope it was," the entire Longbottom clan said viciously. They all looked startled at having said the same thing. Eventually Frank and Alice overcame their shock and smiled at their son. Neville had a small blush, but smiled back at them none the less. He was beginning to get used to having his parents here, though he knew it would be a few more chapters before he was able to really talk with them.

"**Er – yes, Harry – about this cupboard. Your Aunt and I have been thinking... you're really ****getting a bit big for it... we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

"SECOND BEDROOM!" Hermione and Lily shouted.

"I can't believe that they gave that fat lump two bedrooms and you had to sleep in a cupboard," Sirius growled.

"Ron, please read," Harry begged his friend. Ron wasn't very happy with what they had been reading about his friends life, but he knew that Harry didn't want a big fuss, particularly with so many people he didn't know around, so he read on.

"**Why?" said Harry.**

"Good, You should be suspicious. It could be a trap," Snape said. Everyone looked at him like he had just grown another head and Harry looked stunned that Snape had given him a compliment. Atlas just smiled. He was happy that the people in the room were beginning to get along, particularly Severus and Harry. He knew most people didn't understand, but he was on relatively good terms with the potions master. Atlas was the only person that wasn't in Slytherin that he seemed to favor. Atlas knew why, of course, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione did as well, but most people seemed to think he was some sort of spy for the Slytherins. he knew it was a little selfish, but if Harry and Severus could get along now, it might save Atlas some of the grief his schoolmates caused, especially because he knew that Severus would always be a strict teacher; something that wouldn't endear him to his students at all.

"**Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't **_**want**_ **him in there... I **_**need**_ **that room... make him get out..."**

"They really need to start punishing him," Alice said.

"It might already be too late for that," Lily said.

"He'll change," Atlas stated, causing most of the room to look at him oddly, save for Harry who perked up at the idea.

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

"I don't blame you one bit, Harry," Atlas said with a sigh of understanding.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back.**

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly. **

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive -"**

"What an idiot," Fabian and Gideon said.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.**

"Practicing Harry?" Hermione asked in amusement.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked with a frown.

"You'll find out later in the books," Atlas said with a slight smile. Harry, Ron and Hermione started to look a little worried realizing that all of their misadventures were going to be in the books. Considering how the adults in the room had been reacting, the trio was pretty sure they weren't going to be too happy with some of their decisions.

James looked suspiciously at the teens when their expressions changed, "We look forward to it," he said with narrowed eyes. The trio gulped before Ron continued to read.

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

"**Go to your cupboard – I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley – go – just go."**

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"Uh oh," Hermione said.

Harry looked offended, "Hey! I have good ideas!"

"Well, yeah. We know you do," Ron said looking at his best friend, "But you've got really bad luck, so it's bound to go badly."

"Your plans only seem to work when they're spur of the moment," Hermione added.

Harry still looked disgruntled but didn't say anything. He knew they were right; he had horrible luck.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any lights. **

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first.**

"Not a bad plan. A little predictable, but for an eleven year old, not bad," Sirius said in approval.

**His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door - **

"**AAAARRRGH!"**

"Ronald!" Hermione said startled by his yell. The rest of the room had also been startled and Remus was rubbing at his ears.

Ron snickered at them and grinned mischievously at her, "Sorry Hermione, but it's in capitols. I'm supposed to yell. It makes things more interesting that way."

Hermione just huffed at him.

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat – something **_**alive**_**!**

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

YES!" Sirius and James yelled triumphantly.

"Your plan might not have worked, but at least you got to step on your uncles face," Ron said. Harry smiled widely and nodded his head.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"**I want -" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

"He needed all day to mail up the mail slot?" Fabian asked incredulously.

"Well, he's not very bright," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders, "He needed several hours to figure out how to use the hammer."

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't **_**deliver**_ **them they'll just give up."**

"**I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock a nail with a piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"And I can assure you we are thankful for that every day," Sirius said.

"And you wonder why we look down on Muggles," Draco muttered to himself, but everybody heard him.

"I wouldn't compare every Muggle to my relatives," Harry said with a frown.

"Comparing all Muggles based off of Harry's relatives would be like saying all wizards were like Fudge or Umbridge," Atlas told his cousin.

Draco's face contorted with anger, "Don't you dare compare me with the likes of them," he hissed.

"Then maybe you should start thinking for yourself. You might realize that Muggles are the same as wizards except without the magic," Hermione sneered.

"Watch your mouth you-" Draco started angrily but was cut off by Atlas.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you Draco," he warned looking at the people in the room who were looking at Draco as if daring him to continue, "You're not exactly in the friendliest of environments for using such word."

Draco glared at him, but didn't say anything. He wasn't stupid. He knew he needed to keep his mouth shut. He also decided to take Hermione's advice, though grudgingly. It was obvious that Harry hadn't lived the life he had thought and while he might not like Harry and his friends, he wasn't in Slytherin for nothing. He was smart enough to sit back and observe for a while.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"He's going crazy," Frank said in amusement.

"He was crazy before this, but he did go a bit odd," Harry said.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two-dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

"**Who on earth wants to talk to** _**you**_ **this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement. **

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"**No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today -"**

"What kind of idiot is he?" Gideon said.

"In the Muggle world there is no post on Sundays," Lily explained.

"Oh."

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one -**

"**Out! OUT!" **

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

"He looked deranged," Harry said, frowning, "It was disturbing."

**He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him around the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"They finally discipline their son and it's only so that Harry will be punished," James said angrily.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

"**Shake'em off... shake'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Oh boo hoo," Alice sneered, "Get over it you big baby."

"Now you know how Harry feels," Hermione said.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast** **the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to the their table.**

"**Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an'undred of these at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**Room 17 **_

_**Railview Hotel**_

_**Cokeworth**_

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"Don't just stare," Lily said outraged that this woman wasn't doing anything to help her son.

"Is this how the Muggle world works when they see signs of abuse?" Draco asked with raised eyebrows.

"Not always," Atlas said, "There are some people that will go out of there way to help someone in need. Then there are those that simply stand by and watch."

"Hmph."

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her.**

**Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"It must be bad if even his son can see it," Regulus said.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared. It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.**

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere ****with a **_**television**_**."**

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. It it **_**was**_ **Monday – and you could usually count on ****Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television – then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" All of the Order members yelled cheerfully.

Harry blushed deeply at the attention, "It's not my birthday now," he said while his friends chuckled at his reaction. "Besides," he continued, "If your going to wish me a Happy Birthday then you really should wish Atlas the same."

"Your birthday is the same as Harry's?" Sirius asked curiously. He wanted to know more about the kid that shared his last name. He was pretty sure that they were related and his last name wasn't just some common Muggle name. The resemblance was too strong and the name was a dead give away. That meant that he was either his son or nephew. He had a girlfriend now, Selina Owen, and they hadn't been particularly careful during their... ahem... night activities. The possibility of it being his child was high, but Regulus could have a girlfriend too, so he couldn't really rule that option out yet either.

"Yeah," Atlas answered glaring a little at Harry. He knew what was about to come.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATLAS!"

"Thanks," Atlas said blushing slightly.

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun – last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

"Why am I not surprised?" James said dryly.

"'Cause they're gits," Sirius said with a huff.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling.**

"Was it a painful one like before?" Alice asked.

"No, it was creepy and sadistic," Harry said shuddering at the memory.

**He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

Lily frowned, "That doesn't sound very good," she said looking at Harry worriedly.

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine.**

"That sounds terrible," Fabian said while he and his brother shuddered.

"I can't believe he hates magic so much that he would endanger his family by going to a place like that," Frank said.

"What did they think going there would accomplish?" Remus asked incredulously.

"They were banking on the old legend about witches and wizards not being able to cross running water," Atlas said.

"How do you _know_ that?" Fabian asked.

"Just do. I'm sure you'll find out later in the books."

**One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"**Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.**

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

"You didn't get sick did you?" Lily asked in worry.

"No, I was fine," Harry said.

"I can't believe they thought going out in that tiny little boat was a good idea," Hermione said.

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and fireplace was damp empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.**

"That's not rations!" Ron and Sirius said outraged.

"That's really unhealthy," Lily said.

"No wonder you were so small in first year," Hermione said.

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. **

**Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hunt and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"Of course you were," Remus growled.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.**

"That's not funny Harry," James and Lily said.

"You've got a really wiered sense of humor," Sirius said shaking his head.

"I can't seem to decided if your being pessimistic or optimistic," Atlas said looking at his friendly oddly.

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... Twenty... ten... nine – maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him –**

"Oh please," James, Sirius, and the Prewett twins said in hopeful voices.

**three... two... one...**

**BOOM**

The room jumped when Ron yelled the last part. Remus decided that he was going to have to be prepared for a lot of yelling in this book.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"Oh dear. It's nothing too bad is it?" Lily asked.

"You'll find out in the next chapter," Harry told her.

"I really wish these things had chapter titles. It might give me a clue on what was going on," she said, irritated.

"I'm sure it's not too bad. It's probably someone from Hogwarts hand delivering the letter, since he hadn't replied yet," James said trying to comfort her. It seemed to work a little bit, but she was still going to be a little worried until she knew for sure.

"Alright, Give me the book. It's my turn to read," Fabian said and took the book from his nephew.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, there's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! I'll have the next chapter up next week. have a good day!**


	5. Chapter 4

******A/N: I ever realized how hard writing a reading the books fanfiction would be, but it is very hard; trying to get the best reactions while keeping everyone in character, trying to expound on certain characteristics or on a character in general that wasn't explained much in the book, having some form of story whithin the cometing (even if it is mostly character development), and trying to juggle all of the characters you're using (because you need a diverse group to make the story interesting). SO for all those who write reading the books fanfiction and updates regularly or has finished, be they harry potter or another, I commend you for your diligence and hard work in creating these stories for us.**

******I would like to thank everyone who has decided to favorite and follow this story.**

******I would like to give special thanks to warewolf-princess558750, Johanni93, and PurpleBullet who have taken their time to review. It is very much appreciated.**

******You may precede to the story after this brief disclaimer.**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of J.K. Rowling and her affiliates. I do not intend to infringe on anybody's rights and the following story is made for pure enjoyment and does not make any profit. The only thing I do own is Atlas my OC and the parts he plays in this rendition of Harry Potter.**

* * *

"**Chapter Four,**" Fabian read.

**BOOM.**

Once again the group jumped at the loud yell. Fabian smirked as he was glared.

"I can see that there's going to be a lot of yelling throughout the books, and I'm certainly not one to try and stop you, but perhaps you could yell a little quieter? I've got sensitive ears here," Remus said while rubbing at his ears.

"Heh heh, sorry Remus. I'll try and be a bit quieter," Fabian said with a sheepish grin.

"Thanks."

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

"**Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

"That's a bit of a redundancy seeing as everything he says, he says stupidly," Sirius said.

"Wow paddy, I didn't know you knew such big words," Remus teased.

"Oh shut up," Sirius said, wishing he had a pillow he could throw, while James sniggered at him.

"What's a Canon?" Frank asked curiously.

"They're very large metal contraptions that shoot metal balls, called cannon balls, at large targets. A lot of cannon balls explode when they hit the ground. It causes a lot of destruction," Hermione explained.

"Think of the effects of the bombarda curse, then multiply it by ten and you've got the destructive power of a cannon ball," Lily said. The wizards looked horrified at the thought of that much destruction being caused by just one weapon.

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – **

"What!" Lily and Hermione yelled together.

"I can't believe he bought such a thing with two eleven year olds in the house," Lily continued angrily.

"I can't believe he was planning on shooting whoever came to pick up Harry," Hermione said appalled. She knew who it was and that they would be fine because they wouldn't be hurt by such a thing, but it was still unnerving that he wanted to kill or seriously harm the person that came for her friend.

"What's a rifle?" Gideon asked.

"It's a long ranged Muggle weapon that can be used to kill or seriously harm someone. Generally they're made out of metal and they use these small metal chunks called bullets which are shot out of the rifle at high speeds. The bullets can pierce the skin and bone. If the bullet exits the body, which doesn't always happen, the exit wound it generally larger than the entry wound," Atlas explained since Lily and Hermione were too caught up in their fuming to answer.

"Wow, the Muggles seem to have a lot of powerful weapons," James said with wide eyes.

"They're not as useless as witches and wizards seem to think they are," Atlas said with a pointed look at Draco, Severus, and Regulus.

**now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"**Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you – I'm armed!"**

"Normally I would think that that wouldn't work on a wizard, but considering what we've heard..." Regulus trailed of with a frown.

"They didn't get hurt," Harry assured the people from the past and those from the present that didn't know who it was.

**There was a pause. Then - **

**SMASH!**

**The door hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

**A giant of a man**

"Hagrid!" The Marauders of the group yelled.

"Hagrid came to get you?" Lily said not sure weather she should be happy or worried. On one hand Hagrid was her friend and she trusted him with, not only her life but her son's life as well. She knew that he would get Harry away from her sister. On the other hand, he probably wasn't the best choice when it came to educating someone about the Wizarding world. He was likely to forget something important, because he took knowing the answer for granted.

"Yep," Harry said smiling.

**was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

"**Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."**

"Only Hagrid," Remus said with a fond smile.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

"**Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

"Go Hagrid!" Ron, Neville, Hermione, and Atlas cheered.

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

"**An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

"**Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."**

"That was the first time I ever heard that," Harry said.

"Do you hear it a lot?" Lily asked.

"Just about everybody that knew you says it," Harry said with a tired sigh, "No offense to you guys, but it gets a bit irritating after the tenth or so time."

"No offense taken," James said with a scrunched up nose, "I wouldn't like that either."

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

"**I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"Like he could really demand anything of Hagrid," Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"**Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant, he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

"Good. That thing needed to be taken care of," Lily said grateful that the weapon was away from her son.

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

The golden trio and Atlas smirked darkly at the comparison, imagining Wormtail in the position. The rest of the room looked at them oddly. Harry just shook his head and motioned for Fabian to continue.

"**Anyway – Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "A very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with _Happy Birthday Harry_ written on it in green icing.**

"Oh, don't eat it Harry. Hagrid is the worse cook ever," James said with a grimace.

"I know," Harry said rubbing at his jaw a little, "But the cake was pretty good. I think he might have had help on it."

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

The group chuckled a bit and James spoke up, "I don't blame you at all. I'd be pretty freaked out too."

"At least you tried to be polite," Lily said with an amused smile.

"I must admit, my reaction was much worse," Atlas said with a side along glance towards Severus.

"Really? Were the circumstances similar to mine?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. My grandparents acted similarly, except without as much paranoia. They did still try to run away and the professor had to break our door down."

"Couldn't they have just used 'Alohamora'?" Severus asked.

"Yeah, but I think they wanted to scare my grandparents a bit."

"How did you react?" Ron asked curiously.

"I threw a lamp at them," Atlas said shrugging.

"You what?!" the group shouted with wide eyes.

"Who came to get you?" Harry asked.

"Our Potions professor," Atlas said sheepishly.

Everyone form the future laughed hard at this. The others in the room guessed that they would just have to find out who the Potions professor was later. Fabian decided to continue reading.

**The giant chuckled.**

"**True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

"He never did realize his own strength," Sirius said grimacing and rubbing his shoulder.

"**What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

"Hagrid!" Lily said appalled, "Don't go drinking when your supposed to be looking out for my son."

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

"I didn't think he was supposed to use magic," Frank said with raised eyebrows.

"Who cares, he's helping Harry," James said.

"I suppose under the circumstances it doesn't really matter," Frank said.

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.**

"How much can he fit into his jacket," Alice asked in amazement.

"A lot more than that," Harry said. Alice looked at him in surprise.

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

"Like Hagrid would give that fat lump anything," James scoffed.

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

"**Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry." He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are." **

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

"**Call me Hadrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts – yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

"No, no he won't," James growled.

"Hagrid won't be very happy with that, either," Remus said with a grim smile at the thought of how Hagrid was going to react when he found out how the Dursleys had treated Harry.

"**Er – no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

"**Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"Why are you apologizing Harry? You didn't do anything," Lily asked.

"Well, I was used to everything being my fault, so it was my natural response," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head.

Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus glared darkly at the book.

"_**Sorry**_**?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. **

"**It's them that should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"**

"**All what?" asked Harry.**

"**ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered.**

"Good Hagrid. Make sure they pay for their treatment of Harry," Sirius said with a wide smile.

"**Now wait jus' one second!" **

**He leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

"**Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy – this boy! - knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?"**

"Oh don't say it like that Hagrid. Harry's going to take it the wrong way," Hermione said.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

"**I know **_**some**_** things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."**

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About _our_ world,I mean. _Your_ world. _My_ world. _Yer parents' _world." **

"**What world?"**

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

"**DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble."**

"Isn't that the name of the tongue-tying spell?" Sirius asked with raised eyebrows.

"It is," Lily said a little amused that her brother in law said a spell on accident.

Harry snickered a little, "I wonder how he'd react if I told him?" Everyone chuckled at the thought of how he would react.

**Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. "But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're **_**famous**_**. You're **_**famous**_**."**

"**What? My – my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"I love the fact that you completely ignore him saying that your famous and focus on your parents," Sirius said. Harry blushed a little and Ron snickered.

"**Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

"**Yeh don' know what yeh **_**are**_**?" he said finally.**

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

"**Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

"Like that man could forbid Hagrid from doing anything," Ron snorted.

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

"**You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

"**Kept **_**what**_** from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

"**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

"**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. " Harry – yer a wizard."**

"That might not have been the best way to tell you," Lily said with a frown.

"Maybe, but I can't really think of any other way that you could tell someone that they're a wizard," Harry said with a shrug.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Lily said.

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

"**I'm a **_**what**_**?" gasped Harry.**

The group laughed at his reaction and Harry blushed before glaring at his muggleborn/muggle-raised friends, "Stop laughing. I doubt you handled it any better," he said.

Hermione sobered immediately and then blushed slightly, "I suppose your right. When Mcgonnagal told me that I was a witch, I though she was insulting me and told her as much."

"I did that too, except that I was told before I got my letter," Lily said and Hermione smiled at her.

"What about you?" James asked Atlas, "You said that you were raised by your Muggle grandparents, right?"

Atlas nodded and spoke, "I didn't really have much of a reaction; aside from throwing the lamp, of course. Once I had been assured that he wasn't some nutter breaking into the house, it wasn't all that hard for me to believe." Atlas shrugged.

"Of course _you _would believe something like that," Ron said looking amusedly at his friend while Harry and Hermione just shook their heads.

"I suppose your not going to explain what you mean by that?" Remus asked, already sure of the answer.

"Nope, sorry," Harry said not looking sorry at all, "I think you'll find out in the third book, unless you think of it sooner."

"**A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good' un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's yer letter."**

"Finally," Lily said smiling.

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to:**

**Mr. H. Potter, **

**The floor, **

**Hut-on-the-Rock, **

**The Sea. **

**He pulled out the letter and read:**

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards) **

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall,**

**Deputy Headmistress**

"Well, they haven't changed at all," James said.

"Were you really expecting them too?" Lily asked with raise eyebrows.

"Well, no, but it's weird to see the exact same letter given to Harry. Since the letter content didn't change and Harry's name is the same...well it's just weird," James said with furrowed eyebrows. Lily just shook her head in exasperation at her husband.

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"Really Potter? Out of all the questions you could have asked you choose that one?" Draco asked in a drawling voice.

Harry sighed. Draco had been quiet for a while and he wasn't really saying anything particularly mean. In fact he was pretty sure that his other friends would have asked the same question. Of course now that Draco had said it they would deny it to their dying day, or at least Ron would. It wasn't so much what he'd asked but how he'd asked it – like he was some sort idiot. He was trying his hardest not to start a conflict. He could tell that Draco was thinking over everything that was read and if the book could get him to stop fighting Harry all the time, he really didn't want to set anything back. Plus Atlas didn't like it when they fought each other and he didn't want to make his friend uncomfortable.

"Everything else made sense. I had already been told I was a wizard so the magic school bit wasn't confusing, but Muggles don't use owls for post, so I was confused," He explained patiently. He saw Draco frown, but stay silent. Atlas smiled at him from across the room, happy he hadn't started a fight.

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl – a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - **

"How could he!" Alice cried. She was a great animal lover.

"Hagrid wouldn't do anything to hurt an animal," James said, "He's probably the least likely person to harm an owl."

"I suppose you're right," Alice said though she was still frowning.

**a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

"Wow Harry, that takes quite a bit of talent," Sirius said surprised, "I can barely read his writing right side up."

_**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**_

_**Given Harry his letter.**_

_**Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**_

_**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**_

_**Hagrid**_

"That's Hagrid for you; short and to the point," Remus said.

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was normal as talking on the telephone.**

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

"**Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

"**He's not going," he said.**

**Hagrid grunted.**

"**I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

"**A what?" said Harry, interested.**

"**A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"He's got that right. They're like muggle death eaters," Sirius said.

"**We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"**

"**You **_**knew**_**?" said Harry. "You **_**knew**_** I'm a – a wizard?"**

"Of course they knew," Lily said softly.

"**Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "**_**Knew**_**! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?**

"Lily's not dratted!" most of the room yelled.

'_If there's anyone that's dratted it's you Petunia,_' Severus thought angrily.

**Oh, she got her letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that **_**school**_** – and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats.**

"Oh come now, I never did any of that. She just heard me talking about what I did at school," Lily said with a slight roll of her eyes.

**I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak!**

"A freak! If anyone is a freak, it's her!" Alice yelled outraged.

"I always hated it when she called me that," Lily said sadly.

"Me too," Harry said. Everyone looked at sadly.

**But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

"As they should have been!" James said.

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

"She has" Lily said.

"**Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as – **_**abnormal**_** – and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you."**

"That's how you found out?" Neville whispered.

"How cruel could she be?" Hermione asked sadly.

"Oh Tuney, do you hate me so much?" Lily asked, tears shining in her eyes. James pulled her close to him and motioned for Fabian to continue.

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

"**CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"**

"Is it really that bad?" Frank asked.

"Yes," Harry groaned.

"**But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

"**I never expected this," he said, in a low worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh – but someone's gotta – yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

"Ugh...Can you imagine?" Ron said.

"It would have been a nightmare," Harry said with a grimace.

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

"**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh – mind, I can't yeh everythin' it's a great myst'ry, parts of it..."**

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with – with a person called – but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows - **

"**Who?"**

"He won't say the name. Hagrid's terrified of it," James said.

Harry smirked and Gideon noticed, "You get him to say it?" he asked incredulously.

Harry didn't answer but the smile on his face was answer enough for the group.

"**Well – I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"**Why not?"**

"**Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"**Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

"**Nah – can't spell it. All right – **_**Voldemort**_**."**

"I can't believe he actually said it," James said.

"Your a miracle worker Harry, that's what you are," Sirius said looking just as stunned as James.

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this – this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got' em, too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, ' cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Don't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"Like Voldemort could ever take Hogwarts," Sirius snorted.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Atlas said quietly. Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked at him startled.

"You're not saying..." Hermione trailed.

"What?" Atlas asked confused until he realized she was asking if he'd had a premonition, "No!"

"That's good," Harry breathed in relief.

"What are you lot talking about? It's obvious that Voldemort didn't take the school," James said with a frown, feeling uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.

"Don't worry about it. You'll find out later," Harry said.

Most of the room looked uneasy, not sure if they wanted to know, but Regulus' eyes had darkened. He had been listening to the conversation and was pretty sure that he knew what the teens had been talking about. The Dark Lord had risen again, which could only mean one thing – he had made a horcrux.

"**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get' em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

"**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' – an' -"**

Everyone looked sad at the reminder of what had happened, especially with how much feeling Hagrid put into it.

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his noise with a sound like a foghorn.**

"**Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad – knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anywa...**

"**You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then – an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it.**

"**Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even – but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry.**

"**No one ever lived after he decided ter kill' em, no one except you, an' he killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age – the McKinnons, **

"Marlene!" Lily and Alice shouted. Marlene was a very good friend of theirs. Though they didn't know her husband very well they knew that she was with child. They were devastated by the news of their deaths. James and Frank pulled their wives to them in comfort and Harry and Neville looked at their parents sadly, wishing that they didn't have to go through this pain.

**the Bones, **

"Amelia and Edgar?" Remus asked sadly. He knew both of them quite well. Edgar was a very well liked Gryffindor above them, while Amelia was one of the smartest Ravenclaws they knew. There loss would be mourned by a great many people.

"Amelia didn't die with her brother," Harry said, hoping to help at least a little with their grief until they found out the truth later.

"Really?" Lily perked up.

"Yeah she became the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Her niece Susan goes to school with us," he said trying to be careful how he worded things.

"That's good at least," Remus aid looking relieved.

**the Prewetts - **

The people from the past gasped and looked at Fabian and Gideon, who looked wide eyed at the book. They began to feel a little sick and could now fully understand how Lily and James felt hearing about their own deaths. They looked around the room and noticed Lily and James looking at them sympathetically before they turned to Ron, who's head was bowed.

"Molly?" Fabian said softly, "She would be considered a Weasley right? So she's still..." he trailed of and swallowed thickly.

Ron looked at his uncle with sad eyes, "She's fine. It was just you two."

The twins looked relieved glad that their older sister was safe. It was another five minutes before Fabian continued reading, having needed to take a break to gather himself.

**an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

"The Killing Curse?" Lily said faintly looking at Harry horrified.

"You remember that?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Harry said answering both questions while trying to avoid looking at his parents, "It gets worse in third year."

"How?" Remus asked.

"You'll find out," Harry sighed. His friends looked at him comfortingly, knowing what he was talking about.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

"**Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..."**

"**Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped, he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

"**Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured - **

"Excuse me!" the group yelled angrily.

"He didn't touch me," Harry said trying to reassure them.

"It doesn't matter! He still threatened to," Sirius growled.

**and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion -**

"It is not!" Remus, Sirius, and Alice yelled.

**asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types – just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -"**

"I can't believe he's saying all of this to you," Frank said, shaking his head in disbelief.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat.** **Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word..."**

"Come on Hagrid, take him out," Lily growled.

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"**That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

"**But what happened to Vol -, sorry – I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"Don't be afraid of his name Harry," James said.

"Don't worry, I'm not."

"I can't believe you didn't say his name," Ron said stunned.

**"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was gettin' more an' more powerful — why'd he go? Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die.**

"He didn't," Harry and Atlas whispered.

Regulus frowned finding even more evidence to support his Horcrux theory.

"**Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.**

"**Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on — **_**I **_**dunno what it was, no one does **— **but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.**

"Why did you think it was a mistake?" Sirius asked unable to wrap his mind around the thought of any child of James and Lily not being a wizard.

"I never thought there was anything special about me, plus most Muggles have a misguided view of how magic works."

**A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

"That would be cool if that could happen, but alas magic doesn't quite work that way," James said sadly.

**"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

"**Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"**

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it… every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry… chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach… dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back… and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

"Well, you didn't really set it on him," Hermione said.

"Yeah, but it was the principle of the matter," Harry shrugged.

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

"**See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard — you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

"**Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish — spell books and wands and —"**

"**If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born.**

**He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled—"**

"**I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

"Ooooh, Hagrid's not going to like this," Sirius said giddily as he, James, and Remus leaned forward in anticipation.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER —" he thundered, "— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE — IN — FRONT — OF — ME!" He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

The room erupted into laughter. Even Draco had to let out a snort at the image and Severus a a slight curl to his lips.

"Way to go Hagrid!" Sirius laughed as he picked himself up into a sitting position, having fallen due to his hard laughter.

"That story never gets old no matter how many times I listed to it," Ron said wiping tears from his eyes and Harry nodded in agreement.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

"**Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

Once again the room erupted into laughter. Hermione began to look thoughtful as everyone settled down.

"What is is Hermione?" Harry asked noticing her frown.

"I was just thinking, Hagrid was expelled, so he wasn't able to make it very far in transfiguration. No matter how funny the situation was, he really could have hurt Dudley if something went wrong," she explained.

"Don't tell me you don't think he deserved it," Ron said.

"Of course he deserved it, but human transfiguration is difficult. I'm only saying it was lucky that dudley only got a pigs tail."

"I understand what you mean. I suppose it was lucky," Harry said.

"I can understand your point, but as nothing did happen we might as well have a good laugh," James said, knowing how difficult transfiguration could be.

"Right, sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the mood,' Hermione said sheepishly.

"No harm done," James said shrugging,

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm — er — not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer ****letters to yeh an' stuff — one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job."**

"Really Hagrid, you didn't have to say it like that," Lily said exasperated, "It makes it sound like you only went so you could do magic."

**"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

"**Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

"**Why were you expelled?"**

"Harry, that's kind of a personal question," Lily said with a frown. Harry blushed a little.

"Besides," James said, "He's never going to tell you."

Sirius saw the trio smirk at each other, "No way," he said, "He told you?"

"No," Harry admitted, "But we find out in second year."

"Man, you guys seem to know everything," Gideon said.

"You have no idea," Neville said with a shake of his head.

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

"**You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."**

"Why would he have doormice in his pockets?" Alice said, nose scrunched up in distaste.

"Probably to feed the owl he had in his pocket," Atlas said with a shrug.

"Well, I'm done," Fabian said and put the book down.

"We should probably have some dinner now," Lily said as she stood up, "We can read one more chapter afterwards, but we should leave a little extra time to socialize, discuss the books, or really whatever we want to do before bed."

The rest of the group agreed as they began to make their way to the dining room for dinner.

* * *

**A/N: Okie Dokie, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I know that some of my chapters are getting a bit short, but I haven't found that much to comment on and I don't want to comment just for the sake of it. I can assure you that the next chapter is going to be much longer (aside from the fact that the Diagon Alley chapter s the longest in the first book). Thank you very much for reading! Hope you all have a good week!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, I've finally gotten to the first chapter, where atlas makes and appearance. It's a very small appearance, like less than a page but it's still a first appearance, so I'm kind of excited. Surprisingly enough it was much easier to right the extra bits into this chapter than it was to right everyone's reactions to it.**

**I would like to say one thing before the next chapter shows up, so nobody's surprised/disappointed (at least nobody who reads my A/N's). The next chapter I upload will not be a reading chapter. I tried really hard to make it so that you would always be able to have an actual reading chapter every update. Unfortunately I was unable to do that. Originally the next chapter was supposed to be tacked onto the end of this chapter, but it was getting to long. Unfortunately It's taking me longer to finish that chapter than I thought it would, so there's no double update this week, like I was hoping there would be. So once again, I'm terribly sorry about that.**

**Now then I would like to thank all those who have decided to follow and Favorite this story.**

**I would like to give special thanks to warewolf-princess558750, mfmxx, and my one guest reviewer for taking the time to review my story. Thank you very much. It means a lot to me to see that you're enjoying my story.**

**IMPOTANT! PLEASE READ!**

**This is a reading the books fanfiction, However there is a twist, I'm adding in my own OC (Atlas Black). He will actually be incorporated into the story, so there will be some changes to the books. Please don't worry about him being a Gary Stu, he's not a part of the trio and his involvement is more like Neville's.**

**All of the added parts of the story will be in _Bold Italics_. Please note that I DO NOT own any letters, news reports/articles, songs, poems, or prophecies that are already in italics in the books and are recognizable as J.K. Rowlings. You may precede to the story after this brief disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of J.K. Rowling and her affiliates. I do not intend to infringe on anybody's rights and the following story is made for pure enjoyment and does not make any profit. The only thing I do own is Atlas my OC and the parts he plays in this rendition of Harry Potter.**

* * *

The dinner conversations were more lively than the lunchtime ones. Though the past and future were still unsure about talking with each other, there were several conversations between friends. Those from the past mostly talked about what had been read and what they were looking forward to reading. Many of the people from the past were also looking forward to when some more of the people from the future were going to show up.

The people from the future mostly talked about what they thought would turn up in the books. They worried about getting into trouble with their parents or guardians with everything that they did. They were also nervous about how the people of the past would see them; would they live up to their standards?

The only people who were not conversing were Severus, Draco, and Regulus. Severus was in complete enemy territory. Regulus was there but he'd been acting oddly. The only ones who didn't glare at him when he spoke were Draco, Atlas, and Lily. The latter was only because she tried not to look at him at all. He thought that it would be best if he stayed quiet. Draco felt similarly to Severus, but he was also in deep thought, pondering what had been read and trying to reevaluate his first assumptions of Harry. Regulus was keeping quiet because he was worried about the Horcrux. He was hoping that it would be in the books. Though he didn't want the children to be involved, he thought it was better that than not knowing at all.

Once everyone had finished eating and taking care of their dishes, the group made their way back into the sitting room. They all took their seats and James picked up the book.

"Guess it's my turn," he said before clearing his throat, "**Chapter 5**,"

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

_**It was a dream, **_**he told himself firmly. **_**I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard.**_

"Wow, Harry. That's depressing," Ron said.

"Well it seemed too good to be true," Harry defended.

"If this is the next day, then that means I get to read about Diagon Alley!" James exclaimed.

"That is so unfair," Sirius pouted, "I hope I get a good chapter."

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

_**And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door**_**, Harry thought, his heart sinking.**

**But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

"**All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.**

"That was pretty surreal," Harry said.

"I'll bet," Remus said.

"Be careful around the news birds Harry. They can be very vicious," James said rubbing at a small triangular scar between his thumb and forefinger.

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

"**Don't do that."**

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

"**Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl —"**

"**Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

"He's not going to know what your talking about Hagrid," Lily huffed in exasperation.

"**What?"**

"**He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."**

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing **_**but **_**pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags… finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

"**Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

"Hagrid!" The group groaned, knowing that was just going to confuse book-Harry even more.

"**Knuts?"**

"**The little bronze ones."**

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.**

"If you were getting up anyway, why didn't you just pay the owl?" Regulus asked.

"I think he was trying to teach me about wizard money," Harry said looking carefully at his godfather's brother. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of the man. He knew he was a death eater, but he hadn't been acting like one and Atlas was adamant that he had exonerated himself before he died. Harry usually believed Atlas' random moments of insight, but he knew that Atlas was too close to the situation for him to be completely objective. He decided that he would just have to decide for himself based off of his actions and anything the books might uncover.

"Perhaps," Regulus conceded, "But there were probably better ways to do it."

"**Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture. **

"Oh great, what happened?" Sirius said with a groan.

**"Um — Hagrid?"**

"**Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

"**I haven't got any money — and you heard Uncle Vernon last night… he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

"Oh. Is that all? I thought it was something serious," Sirius said relieved.

"Harry, we wouldn't have left you without any money," Lily said.

"I know, but at the time I didn't know anything about you and the Dursley's always made it seem like you were really poor," Harry explained.

**"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

"**But if their house was destroyed —"**

"Why on earth would we keep our money in our house?" James asked with a raise eyebrow.

Harry blushed, "Well I had only heard the Muggle stories about Witches and Wizards and in them they always kept their money in their house."

"**They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

"**Wizards have **_**banks**_**?"**

"Of course we have banks," Snap sneered. Several people glared at him, but Harry just blushed harder.

"Like I said I was thinking about the Muggle fairy tales."

"**Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

"Surely there is more than just Gringotts," Hermione said.

"Well technically there's just Gringotts, but there are many different branches throughout the world," James explained.

"Are they all run by goblins?" Harry asked.

"All the heads of the banks are run by goblins, but there are several divisions with mostly human bankers, particularly in the Americas," Remus explained.

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

"_**Goblins**_**?"**

"**Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry.**

**Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see." **

**"Got everythin'? Come on, then." Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

"**How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat.**

"**Flew," said Hagrid.**

"Flew?" Sirius asked incredulously, "How on earth did he fly? I doubt they have brooms big enough for Hagrid."

"Perhaps he used a thestral," Remus suggested.

"_**Flew**_**?"**

"**Yeah — but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

**"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter — er — speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

"**Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.**

"How did your relatives get back?" Atlas asked curiously.

Harry laughed, "It was pretty funny. They had to flag down a passing ship, which they had to wait hours for. It turned out that the ship they got on was a harbor patrol ship that had been looking for a family of three who had been poaching near where we had been staying. The Dursleys were forced to go through a lot of questioning to make sure they weren't the poachers. When the police found out that they had let me go off with Hagrid they had to go through even more questioning for competence in taking care of children. Unfortunately they were found to be competent enough for me to go back."

The group laughed at the Dursley's misfortune, glad that they at least got some punishment.

"**Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

"**Spells — enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults.**

"There are," James, Sirius, and Regulus said together. Lily had yet to go down to the main Potter family vaults and was intrigued by this information.

"Charlie won't be happy to find that out," Ron said to his friends, who nodded there heads in agreement.

**And then yeh gotta find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat." **

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the **_**Daily Prophet**_**. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

"**Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

"**There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

"'**Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

"**But what does a Ministry of Magic **_**do**_**?"**

"Absolutely nothing," Harry and his friends said.

"Are they really that bad in the future? Lorcan Mclaird*****, he's our minister, and he isn't too bad, a bit eccentric, but a good minister," Frank said.

"Fudge was a terrible Minister, like Hagrid said a Bungler. Scrimgeour is better, but he's still pretty bad," Harry said.

"**Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

"**Why?"**

"_**Why? **_**Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best ****left alone."**

"That's true, but there's also the possibility that they would come to despise and fear us and start up the witch hunts again," Regulus said.

The group nodded in agreement, even Hermione. It was hard to admit it, being muggleborn and all, but she knew that persecution was very likely, just as it was with Wizards and Witches with Muggles.

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.**

**Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

"Hagrid," Lily groaned, "Your going to get discovered if you keep being so obvious."

Draco snorted, "Right, because someone as big as Hagrid walking around London isn't obvious." James and Harry glared at him for his comment while Atlas just sighed. Lily on the other hand took the comment in stride.

"Your right, that would be pretty odd, but they might just discount him as being abnormally large. If he goes around talking about Wizarding things, though, people are definitely going to notice," she said hoping to keep a fight from brewing and incorporate Draco into the reading a little more. She could tell that he was beginning to change his previous misconceptions about Harry. If she could get him to see the error of his ways before the books showed him in too bad a light it might not lead to physical fights.

Draco frowned at Lily, though he looked more thoughtful than angry. Atlas smiled at Lily, happy that someone besides him was trying to help change Draco's and the trio's rivalry to something a little more friendly, or at least tolerant.

**"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are _dragons _at Gringotts?"**

"**Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

"**You'd **_**like **_**one?"**

"Unfortunately," Ron muttered so that only Harry and Hermione could hear him. They nodded their heads in agreement.

"Of course he does. He's always talking about how much he wants one," Sirius said.

"**Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go."**

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

"I never did figure out what that was for," Harry said thoughtfully.

"A blanket for Fluffy," Atlas said.

Neville paled a bit at the mention of Fluffy but quickly shook away his fright, "How do you know that?" he asked.

"I saw him walking towards Fluffy's home with it and asked what it was. 'Course I didn't know about Fluffy at the time, but once I found out I realized what he'd meant when he said it was for one of his pets."

"Sometimes I think you know more about what goes on in the castle than we do," Harry said.

"Nah, I just know different things than you," Atlas said.

"**Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches.**

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

"**Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

_**UNIFORM**_

_**First-year students will require:**_

_**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)**_

_**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**_

"Do we ever actually use those?" Ron asked.

"We used them for the sorting feast, the leaving feast, and during fourth year, but that's it," Hermione said.

"They seem kind of pointless if we only where them twice a year," Ron said.

"I don't know, I found it pretty useful in charms," Harry said with a smile, waving for James to continue reading when everyone but Atlas looked confused.

_**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**_

_**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**_

_**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**_

_**COURSE BOOKS**_

_**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**_

_**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk**_

_**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot**_

_**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling**_

_**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch**_

_**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore**_

_**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger**_

_**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander**_

_**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble**_

"That's the only book out of the list that's different," James said.

"Defense against the Dark Arts books are always different, since there's always a new teacher," Hermione said.

_**OTHER EQUIPMENT**_

_**1 wand**_

_**1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)**_

_**1 set of glass or crystal phials**_

_**1 telescope set**_

_**1 brass scales**_

_**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**_

"How were you able to bring a rat if only owls, cats, and toads are allowed?" Hermione asked Ron.

Ron shrugged, "When Percy first got it Mum contacted the school and asked if we could bring it instead. They said that it was fine."

"The school lets you bring a different familiar as long as it's not to big and you've contacted them to ask about it," James explained.

Hermione hummed in understanding.

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**_

"I always hated that rule," James, Sirius, Fabian, Gideon, and Regulus moaned. Harry shared a secret smile with his friends.

"At least Harry doesn't have to worry about being disappointed by it," Lily said.

James whimpered, "Right, because he doesn't like to play quidditch."

**"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

"**If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

"**I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

"It's because they never had it that they can live without it," Hermione said, "They were never used to having things done with the flick of a wand, so they had to come up with more innovative ways to get things done. They're much more intelligent than wizards give them credit for," Hermione finished with a glare towards Malfoy and Lily nodded her head in agreement.

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?**

"I thought that they didn't believe in imagination," Gideon said.

"Yeah, so it's definitely not something they had come up with," Fabian agreed.

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

"**This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.**

"You're pretty observant," Frank said, "You'd probably make a good Auror."

Harry smiled at him, "Thanks. I've been thinking about going into that field."

"Really?" Lily said a little nervously, "It's pretty dangerous."

"Yeah, but my life hasn't exactly been peaches and cream up until this point and I've been told on multiple occasions that I have a 'saving people thing'. I might as well put it to good use."

"I suppose your right," Lily sighed in resignation.

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. **

Several of the rooms occupants laughed at the description, "I never really thought about it like that before, but he does sort of look like that," Remus said in amusement.

"Geez mate, you have some funny descriptions," Ron said through his chuckles.

"Just wait until yours comes up," Harry said trying to control his blush by smirking (it worked surprisingly well). Ron stopped laughing immediately and paled a little.

**The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

**"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

"**Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this — can this be —?"**

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

"Wow, I don't think anyone has ever gotten that place to be completely still and quiet," Sirius said wide-eyed.

"**Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter… what an honor."**

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

"**Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."**

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

**"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

"**So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

"**Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter."**

"That sounds really annoying," James said.

Snape stared at him with raised eyebrows, "I thought it was your life's ambition to be famous," he sneered.

"Yeah, when I was in school I wanted attention, though later I mostly just wanted Lily's attention. I wouldn't mind a little attention now, but I don't want it for something like this. Being famous for something that you're too young to remember and knowing that your parents died for it; that would be horrible," James said sorrowfully, thinking about how hard it must have been for Harry.

Draco's eyes widened as he listened to James' explanation. He had never thought about it that way before. How Harry must have felt every time someone mentioned his defeat of the Dark Lord – sorrow for the loss of his parents. Draco was still hesitant to admit it, and it would likely take a while before he could, but Harry really hadn't been acting like he thought both in the books and while reading the books.

"**Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

"That would be the fourth time, he's been mentioned," Remus said, still keeping count.

"Really?" Sirius said, "Why are you keeping count?"

"Because Atlas said that he would be mentioned or show up in some capacity a lot in the books. He said it so surely I decided to keep count," he explained.

Atlas looked a little surprised that someone had decided to listen to his offhand comment but James spoke before he could say anything, "When's the fourth? I'm only counting three: McGonagall mentioned him, he bowed to Harry, and then there's now," he said ticking off his fingers.

"In the very beginning a short man in a violet robe hugged mister Dursley and told him about the Dark Lord's downfall," Regulus answered.

"You think that was Diggle?" Lily questioned ignoring Sirius, who was giving Regulus a hard stare for use the moniker 'Dark Lord'.

"What other male do you know would wear a violet cloak other than Dumbledore and that Ravenclaw several years our senior – what was his name? – Xenophilius Lovegood, and be stupid enough to actually mention such a thing to a Muggle stranger?" Regulus explained.

"I suppose I see your point," Lily said. When nobody spoke up again James continued to read.

"**I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

"Oh, don't say that, it's just going to make things worse," James said with a wince.

"**He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Atlas glared at the mention of Quirrell. The people from the the past as well as Neville and Draco looked at them, but thought it was better not to ask. They knew that they wouldn't say anything.

"**Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at ****Hogwarts."**

**"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you." **

"**What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

"**D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it.**

"That stutter is so annoying," Alice groaned.

"I can't believe he's teaching Defense against the Dark Arts," Sirius said.

**"N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

"That must have been a terrible class," James said, frowning.

"Yeah, the only good Defense classes that we had were the third and fourth year proffessors," Harry said.

"You'll say fourth year, but not sixth?" Atlas said a little upset.

"We actually learned something in fourth year," Harry said with a frown.

"We're learning things now."

"No we're not, he's a terrible teacher and one of the biggest bullies in the world." Harry exclaimed.

Before Atlas could say anything he was interupted by Hermione, "Maybe you should both just agree to disagree. Atlas, you need to admit that he's not very nice and doesn't teach in a way where Harry and some others can learn. Harry you need to take into account Atlas' relationship with him. You wouldn't like it if someone came by and started talking badly about Snuffles whether what they were saying was true or not, especially if it was one of your friends."

Both boys looked thoroughly chastised and apologized to each other, knowing that Hermione was right on both accounts.

"Something you lot want to say or is this another secret?" Fabian asked thoroughly confused.

"Secret," Everyone from the future said together.

"Alright, just checking," Fabian said sighing.

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

"**Must get on — lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

"**Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

"**Is he always that nervous?"**

"**Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?"**

"He met something a little nastier than a hag," Harry mumbled to Ron and Hermione, who both looked grim.

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.**

"**Three up… two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.**

"**Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

"I wish we could have been the ones to take you there," James said sadly and pulled Lily close to him.

"We can always change it though," Lily said, though she also sounded sad.

"Aaaaaargh!"

Everyone jumped and turned to Sirius who had yelled.

"Where on earth am I? If something happened to you two, I should be there for Harry. I was already mentioned in the first chapter, so why am I not there?" He asked desperately pleading with Harry to tell him.

"It explains it in the third book. You had a very good reason, but I'd rather wait until the third book to tell you. It's probably best to just focus on one book at a time." Harry said sadly. He knew he was going to have to run some interference when that book came.

"I suppose you're right," Sirius said with a sigh. He understood what Harry was saying. They wouldn't be able to pick everything up that they needed to in each book if they were too focused on what was to come. It could bring about dire consequences if they missed something important.

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.**

"**Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes.**

**He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad…"**

"That's ridiculous," Frank said, "I thought it was expensive now, but they've increased it by three sickles."

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —" **

"Oh, Harry go back. I wanted to here more about it," James and Sirius moaned.

Lily rolled her eyes at their antics, "Stop talking to the book and keep reading, James."

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon…**

"Those are always very useful," Remus said.

"**Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was —**

**"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

**Enter, stranger, but take heed**

**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**

**For those who take, but do not earn,**

**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**

**So if you seek beneath our floors**

**A treasure that was never yours,**

**Thief, you have been warned, beware**

**Of finding more than treasure there.**

"I always liked that poem," Atlas said.

"Yeah, me too," Lily nodded her head in agreement.

**"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid. **

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

"**Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."**

"**You have his key, sir?"**

"**Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. **

"They're not going to like that," Regulus said.

"No. he didn't," Harry said.

**The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

**"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely.**

"**That seems to be in order."**

"**An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

"And so it begins..." Ron said in a voice reminiscent of Trelawney's. He smirked a little as Harry punched him in the arm and Hermione laughed.

"Hagrid, you shouldn't say something like that in front of the son of Lily and James," Remus groaned and Sirius laughed when both Lily and James asked, "What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?"

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

"**Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.**

"**What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

"**Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

"Your just making it worse!" Alice exclaimed seeing the Curious looks on Lily's and James' faces.

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off.**

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.**

"That's better than most people," Frank said.

"I'm pretty sure that Atlas could remember all the way to the end," Harry said and Atlas blushed.

"Can you?" Regulus asked shocked when he saw Atlas' blush.

"No, I only got a little farther that Harry did," he said, "I don't know everything."

Harry shrugged, "Anything's a possibility when it comes to you."

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late - **

**they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

"**I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between ****a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

**Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick." **

"Ugh. That's probably some good advice," Alice said wrinkling her nose.

**He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

"You know that's not all of it right?" James said.

"What?!" Harry asked shocked.

"Yeah, that's only the trust vault. We have several other vaults with money and Potter family heirlooms."

"I never knew."

"Someone should have told you. Surely Dumbledore knew," Lily said.

"Well, either way, he'll know this time, won't he?" Sirius said trying to lift the mood a little. It worked a little and Lily, James, and Harry gave him a small smile.

"**All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London. Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

"**The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. **

"I think muggle munny is much easier. It has a consistent pattern and the amount is on the bill," Hermione said.

"I think it's weird that muggles put so much value into little slips of paper," Gideon said.

"They don't put value in the paper. It's merely representative. They store the actual gold somewhere else and then use the paper bills to represent the gold," Lily explained.

"I suppose that makes sense," Gideon said though he was still frowning a little.

**Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

"**One speed only," said Griphook.**

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

"Harry!" Harry's parents, Sirius, and Remus said.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Lily asked.

"No, I was just curious," Harry said while blushing.

"Don't worry Harry, I did the same thing," Atlas said, "Scared the professor I was with half to death."

"Man, that would have been funny to see," Ron said thinking of the look on his least favorite professor's face.

"Who was the professor that was with you again?" Regulus asked.

"Our Potions Professor," Atlas said. When he didn't say anything more, James decided to continue reading.

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

"Must be a pretty high security vault," Frank said as those from the past along with Neville and Draco, perked up.

"**Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

"**If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

"**How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

"**About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.**

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least **— **but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.**

"That's it?" James asked in disappointment. The others in the room shared his feelings.

**Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

"**Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life — more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

**"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

"I would too," Alice said.

"I can't believe Hagrid left you to go in there by yourself just so he could go get a drink," Lily said angrily.

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

"**Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

"Maybe you'll meet a friend," Lily said hopefully.

"I wouldn't count on it," Harry told her.

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.**

"**Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"**

"**Yes," said Harry.**

"**My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy.**

"You have to pick your own wand, so why was your mother looking at them," Hermione asked.

"I didn't say she was looking for _my _wand," Draco sneered at her, but then reigned his voice in to a more respectable tone (he was trying to be nice after all) before he continued, "Her old wand had been broken and she was getting a new one."

"Oh," she said a little embarrassed that she hadn't considered an alternative – she was a witch for crying out loud! – and a little shocked that Draco had tried to be civil.

**He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

"Don't compare me to that monstrous Muggle!" Draco cried, severely offended.

"Well, you were acting like him. Listen to the way that you act in these books and maybe you'll stop acting like him," Harry said.

Draco huffed irritably, but stayed silent; he knew he had acted like a brat in school.

"**Have **_**you **_**got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

"**No," said Harry.**

"**Play Quidditch at all?"**

"No," James and Sirius let out a pitiful moan. Harry laughed at his father and godfather's reactions. Lily gave a quick smack to the back of her husbands head to get him back to reading.

"**No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

"_**I **_**do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

"**No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

"**Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff," Harry growled at Draco. He looked so angry that Draco thought it would be best not to argue.

"**Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.**

"**I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.**

"**That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

"**Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

"He is not!" James and Sirius glared at Draco, who pushed himself into the side of the couch in hopes of getting as far away from the angry Marauders as possible.

**"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.**

"**Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of **_**savage **_— **lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

More glares were thrown his way and Draco was wishing that he would just shut up. They might not have their wands, but that didn't mean they couldn't use their fists and while the adults were unlikely to hit him because he was still underage, his school mates wouldn't hold back. He was pretty sure that Atlas wouldn't step in either, until he'd been hit a few times, judging by the angry look on his face.

"**I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

"_**Do **_**you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

"**They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

"Good, I wouldn't either," James said frowning at said boy.

"**Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all.**

"Excuse me!" Sirius said angrily.

"I was too sorry that he didn't have his parents, but I didn't know him or his parents, so I wasn't able to put in the right amount of sympathy. Besides, there are tons of kids who don't have their parents," Draco tried to defend himself, but he didn't seem to be doing a good job, so he just stopped.

"**But they were **_**our **_**kind, weren't they?"**

**"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

"Good answer, Harry. It was very well worded," James said proudly.

Harry smiled brightly at his father, happy that he had made his father proud.

"**I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"**

"If you only keep to the old wizarding families, you're going to start having to marrying your siblings. It's bad enough as it is, but if you keep at it there will be more people with birth defects and more squibs running around," Atlas said.

"He's right," Regulus said surprising everyone, but none more than his brother, "introducing new blood is the only thing that will keep magical blood strong and allow for more magical blood to be born. Eventually the old wizrding blood will die out and there will only be muggle-borns left."

Sirius stared at his brother in shock. He couldn't believe that his baby brother the death eater was condoning mixing with muggles and muggle-borns. Did he dare to hope that Regulus might be seeing the light? Could he have his little brother back before it was too late?

"I think we should keep reading," Regulus said, breaking everyone out of their shock. James looked at him for a moment longer before he continued.

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

"**Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

"**What's up?" said Hagrid.**

"**Nothing," Harry lied.**

"You should really stop doing that mate," Ron said.

"If somethings bothering you, you should tell us. We want to be able to help you," Hermione added.

Harry sighed a bit, "Sorry guys, I'm just not used to telling people about myself. I'm used to dealing with it all on my own."

"Well, you won't have to grow up used to it for much longer," Hermione said and Harry smiled at her a bit in agreement.

**They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?" **

**"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

"**Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's.**

"— **and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —"**

"**Yer not **_**from **_**a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh **_**were **_— **he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

"Just goes to show that you can't judge someone based off of who they're related to," Sirius said.

"**So what **_**is **_**Quidditch?"**

"**It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules."**

"It is not!" all the quiditch nuts, save for Harry, yelled.

"Keep reading James, We need to get through this chapter soon. It's getting kind of late and with everything that's happened today, I think everyone's tired," Lily said. James looked at all the people in the room. They did indeed look quite tired and he was feeling tired himself, so he continued to read.

"**And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

"**School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —"**

"I can't believe that Hagrid just said that," Lily said shocked.

"It's not really his fault, I cut him off before he could finish. He was probably going to defend the House," Harry said, defending Hagrid.

Lily looked at him for a moment before nodding her head in understanding.

**"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily. **

"Harry, there is nothing wrong with Hufflepuff," Hermione said in a scolding tone.

"I know that Hermione, believe me, I know that better than anyone else," Harry said and Hermione cringed slightly at his haunted tone, "But I had only heared bad things about the House since I had found out about it. I had nothing else to go by."

"Right, sorry. I know you wouldn't have said anything like than normally," Hermione apologized and Harry nodded his head in acceptence.

**"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one." **

"That's not true," Harry said, "There were plenty of people from the other houses that went bad, both in the past and during Voldemort's reign."

"Maybe, but all Slytherins are evil," Sirius said.

Sirius didn't see Regulus' small flinch, but Atlas did and spoke up, "That's not true," he said and everyone looked at him, "Your cousin Andromeda was in Slytherin, wasn't she? Are you saying that she's evil?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Let's not forget that Merlin was also in Slytherin and he's certainly not evil, is he?"

"Well, no-"

"Then you can't say that everyone in Slytherin is evil."

Sirius stared at Atlas for a moment stunned (along with the rest of the room) that he had just been told off by a kid. The fact that he had a point and was able to make Sirius realize this reaffirmed the fact that he was definitely a Black. They had always been good at persuasion. He looked at him a little more before he spoke up.

"Okay, I see your point. Not all Slytherins are evil," Sirius conceded, "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to start liking them or anything."

Atlas smiled at him, looking quite satisfied, "That's fine. Rome wasn't built in a day, and all that."

"You can keep reading now Prongs," Sirius said.

"**Vol-, sorry —You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

"**Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were ****stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from **_**Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) **_**by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

"**I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

"Good idea, mate," Ron snickered, "I'd be glad to help you."

"**I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

"It sounds like you were interested in potions," Hermione said surprised, seeing as he hated it now.

"I was. I thought the books were interesting, and it sounded a bit like cooking. I enjoyed cooking and I was good at it, so I thought that it might be the one subject I could truly excel at," Harry said, "At least until I met the teacher, who hated my guts and never really _taught_ us anything."

"I think this is where we first met," Atlas said.

Harry thought for a second before nodding in remembrance, "Yeah, though it was a pretty short meeting.''

"So you show up then?" Sirius asked a little excited about hearing about his possible son/nephew. It was a weird thought, that he might be a dad or that his baby brother was a dad. Normally he would have thought that he was the father, simply from the fact that Atlas lived with his muggle grandparents. Since his girlfriend was a muggle-born and Regulus was a Death Eater it only made sense. However given the way that Regulus was acting since the very beginning of the book, perhaps his brother had fallen in love with a muggle. It was the only reason he could think of for his brother to have changed his ways before they had started reading.

Of course Sirius realized that it was partially his and Regulus' fault that they didn't know who the father was. While it was true that Atlas, nor any of the people from the future, hadn't said who Atlas' father was, neither he, nor Regulus had asked either. He was pretty sure that they would tell them if they asked, but Sirius wasn't sure he was ready to ask. It was one thing for James and Lily they had always wanted a child, ever since they had been married (and James, he knew, since before he had gotten married). Sirius on the other hand had always been a ladies man. That's not to say that now that he knew about Atlas he didn't want him, simply that he wasn't sure if he was ready to be a father (if Atlas was his son). It might be for selfish reasons, but he was willing to wait until Atlas was ready to tell them.

_**Harry marveled at all of the fascinating and wondrous things the shop had to offer. He was so distracted by all of the new things that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and bumped into somebody. Harry stumbled back a couple of steps and heard the distinct sound of someone falling to the floor. He hurried to help the boy off the floor and was quick to apologize.**_

"Your always so polite," Lily said smiling at her son. Harry blushed a little and Ron couldn't help letting out a small snicker at how much Lily had just sounded like his own mother.

"_**Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. You're not hurt are you?"**_

"_**No, no," the boy said in a light tone as he brushed his clothes off (his **_**muggle****_ clothes, Harry noted), "I wasn't paying attention either, so there's no need to apologize to me."_**

"Atlas on the other hand..." Sirius teased.

"Hey. I was being polite," Atlas said with a frown.

"You didn't apologize for bumping into him when you weren't paying attention. You only said that he didn't need to apologize," Hermione pointed out with an amused smile.

"Okay, okay, but I was overwhelmed. I can't be blamed for a sudden lack of manners whne I was in Diagon Alley for the first time," Atlas defended himself with a pout.

_**When the boy finished speaking he looked up and Harry was able to get a good look at him. He was short, had pale skin, and rather high cheek bones, which all conspired to make him look rather frail. **_

"Hey!" Atlas said pouting at his description, "I don't look frail."

Everyone in the room avoided looking directly at him, because they all kind of agreed with Harry. He did look a bit frail. Atlas, knowing what they were all thinking just continued to pout.

_**However his eyes gleamed silver like his Aunt Petunia's highest quality spoons and his dark red hair served to negate the effects a bit.**_

"Silver spoons?" Atlas asked with raised eyebrows. Harry just blushed a bit. The rest of the room was also looking at Harry mildly amused.

"I can't help how my mind works," He said before glaring at Atlas who was smirking at him, glad to have gotten at least a little bit of payback.

_**Both boys stood there for a moment, neither knowing what to say. Harry wanted to ask if the boy was a muggle-born or muggle-raised wizard like himself, but thought that it might be too intrusive, so remained quiet instead. He noticed that the boy's face was scrunched and his head tilted a bit to the side. Harry guessed that he was also trying to find something to say to get rid of the awkward silence. He seemed to have more luck than Harry had, because a second later he opened his mouth to speak, but before a single sound could come out of his mouth another voice was heard from just behind Harry.**_

"What were you going to ask?" Harry asked his friend.

Atlas went red and looked down before mumbling an answer. The only one who heard what he'd said was Remus, due to his werewolf hearing and close proximity, and he let out a chuckle at the answer.

"I'm sorry we didn't quite catch that," Ron said smirking.

"I said I was going to ask what his favorite color was," Atlas said a little louder, going even redder. There was a short pause before the group started laughing. Even Severus and Draco were giving a few chuckles.

"That's was your great ice breaker? What's your favorite color?" James asked between chuckles.

"Well, I couldn't think of anything else and I didn't want to just stand there silently staring at him," Atlas said trying to defend himself, even though he knew it was pointless. It was a pretty silly question. "Can we just keep reading?" he asked hopefully.

"S-sure kid," James said as he got his laughter under control.

"_**Harry? Where'd yeh go?" Hagrid called out through the store.**_

_**Harry turned around to look towards the entrance, "I'll be right there Hagrid! Just a second," he called back and then turned back around to face the boy only to find he was no longer there.**_

"Where did you go?" Alice asked frowning, "It was a bit rude just to leave him there."

"The professor I was with pulled me away to the back of the shop when harry was turned around. They didn't want me getting lost or breaking something," Atlas said, shrugging.

"That makes sense. I'd always wondered how you'd disappeared so fast."

_**Harry was surprised. He had only had his back turned for a moment. He was also slightly disappointed. The boy had seemed nice enough and he had wanted to ask his name. He supposed he'd see him at Hogwarts though, so he shook off the disappointment and made his way over towards Hagrid.**_

"_**Sorry Hagrid. I got distracted by everything.''**_

"_**Not a problem Harry. Yer in a whole new world. We ought ter be goin' now. I already got all yer supplies."**_

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

"**Just yer wand left — A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

**Harry felt himself go red.**

**"You don't have to —"**

"**I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at — an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."**

"They are pretty useful," Lily said.

"Yeah and Hedwig's the best," Harry sighed.

"I don't know. I kind of like my cat," Atlas said thinking of his Kneazle/Maine coon hybrid (how they had managed that, he had no idea).

"Why did you decide on a cat over an owl?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Because there's nobody I would want to send a letter to," Atlas said, "Plus, I've always had an affinity for cats."

Regulus looked at him for a moment. Atlas had implied that his grandparents weren't the nicest people out there and had a similar view of wizards as the Dursleys, so he knew he shouldn't be surprised, but Atlas seemed to be a nice kid and he was a relative of his (he was still trying to figure out who's son he was, especially as he looked so familiar), so the thought of someone treating him badly definitely didn't sit well with him.

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

Harry looked disgusted, "I can't believe I compared myself to him."

"Seriously, you're _nothing_ like him," Ron said with a frown.

**"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

"Any wand that's actually yours is going to be the best wand for you, because it's yours," Atlas said.

"What?" Ron asked after a moment af tryng to figure out what Atlas had said. Several other people also looked confused.

"What I mean is that no wand is the _best_, because everyone's wand has to be unique to fit them. Since nobody's wand will work quite the same for you as your own – even those that you win – then there is no _best wand_."

"I see what your trying to say," Lily said and the rest of the people in the room nodded there heads in understanding, though some took a little longer to figure out what he was saying.

**A magic wand… this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.**

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

"I wonder whose wand that was," Hermione asked curiously.

"There's a rumor going around that it was Merlin's," Sirius said, "Of course there's no telling how true that statement is."

"It's not true at all," Atlas said, "I asked him about it when I went to get my wand from him. He made it himself and put it in the front window to showcase the kinds of wands he makes. He said it was one of his best and that he had made it in 1963*****."

"Well that certainly ruins the magic a little," Alice said, a little disappointed that it wasn't Merlin's wad.

"Sorry, didn't mean to ruin it for anyone," Atlas said sheepishly.

"No problem. I never believed it was Merlin's anyway," James said, "Merlin's wand would have been buried with him."

"Do you know anything else about it?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It's twelve inches exactly has a phoenix tail feather core and is made of Larch wood," Atlas said and everyone was surprised by how much he knew. Atlas noticed their looks, "Ollivander was quite forthcoming with the information. He pretty much told me everything the minute that I asked who it belonged to."

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled.**

**The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

"Good senses," James said, "It's not often that people can sense magic."

"**Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there ****was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

"So that's what happened to it," Atlas said thoughtfully, "I came in a short time after you, I suppose, because it was broken."

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

"**Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

"**Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a ****question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

"Wow I can't believe he remembers that," Lily said, stunned by his memory, especially considering how old he was.

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

"Good, I wasn't the only one to think that," Ron said.

"I think that just about everybody thinks that," Gideon told his nephew. Ron was surprised at being addressed by his uncle, but after a few seconds he grinned at the man and he grinned back.

"**Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration.**

"Ah, I do love my wand," James said and went to reach for it before remembering that he didn't have it.

**Well, I say your father favoured it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

"**And that's where…"**

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

"I think he's going a bit too far," James said with a frown and Lily, Sirius, and Remus nodded their heads in agreement, also frowning at the book.

"**I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"**

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

"**Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

"**It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

"**Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

"**Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

"**But you don't **_**use **_**them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

"**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

"Way to be obvious Hagrid," Sirius said sighing at his friend's nonexistent lying skills.

**"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

"**Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

"**Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two ****unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. **

"I never understood why they do that," Neville said. Everyone turned to look at Atlas who was leaning back against the couch with his eyes closed.

Sensing their stares, he opened his eyes and furrowed his brow, "What?"

"Why does the tape measure at Ollivanders measure between your nostrils?" Ron asked.

"How should I know?" he asked.

"Well you seem to know just about everything else," Sirius said.

"I don't know _everything,_" Atlas said exasperatedly, "And I didn't ask him about the measuring. I was too busy watching him rifle through the wands."

**Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

"**That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take ****it and give it a wave."**

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.**

"**Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"**

**Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

"**No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

"How many wands did you try?" James asked curiously.

"Somewhere around thirty," Harry said casually.

"Seriously? It only took me ten," James said impressed.

"I found mine after eleven," Lily said.

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers.**

**He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.**

"That's the one!" James said excitedly.

"And you had Gryffindor colors too," Sirius said.

"I'm curious, what were the rest of your wands made of?" Alice asked curiously, looking at the kids from the future.

Hermione was the first to answer, "Mine's 10 ¾ inches, vine wood, and a dragon heartstring core."

"Fourteen inches, willow, and unicorn hair," Ron said, deciding to go with his actual wand instead his brothers hand-me-down wand, "I didn't get it til third year though. I had been using one of my brother's old wands until it broke."

"How did it break?" Gideon asked.

Ron looked at his uncle, "Er... you'll find out in the second book."

"Mine's thirteen inches with cherry wood and unicorn hair," Neville said, "But I didn't get it until sixth year."

"Why not?" Frank asked, surprised that he hadn't gotten him his rightful wand.

"Actually, I was using your wand."

"My wand? Wouldn't I need my wand?" Frank asked thoroughly confused.

"It will be explained in the fifth book," he said, not really wanting to talk about it.

"Actually Neville, It'll be in the fourth," Harry said.

"What? But why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I promised I wouldn't."

"Thanks."

Everyone from the past was very confused, but they understood something bad must have happened, and were beginning to get worried. Atlas spoke up quickly in hopes of diffusing some of the tension, "My wand is 9 ¾ inches made with apple wood and a unicorn hair*."

Everyone startled for a moment when they heard Atlas speak, but then smiled at him gratefully for interrupting their depressing thoughts. They all turned to Draco as he was the last person from the future who hadn't given his wand information.

"What?" he snapped when he noticed everyone staring at him, "I'm not telling you about my wand." He wasn't quite ready to participate in the whole reading thing and he didn't really want to speak to any of them at the moment.

Atlas rolled his eyes at his cousin's stubbornness and answered for him, "It's a 10 inch Hawthorn with a unicorn hair core," Draco glared at his cousin who simply ignored him and continued speaking, "Perhaps we should continue reading. I'm awfully tired and I think that the chapter should be done soon."

James counted the pages, "There's about two and a half pages left," he said before he continued reading.

**Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…"**

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…"**

"I hate it when people do that," Alice said, "It's like they're trying to make you ask questions."

"Knowing Ollivander he probably is," Sirius said.

"**Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"**

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

"**I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar."**

"What!?" the occupants of the room yelled. Harry shrunk back against the couch at their exclamation. He didn't want them to think badly of him because he shared cores with Voldemort.

Lily and James noticed Harry's looks and spoke up, "It doesn't matter to us that your and Voldemort's wands are brothers," Lily said.

"It's just surprising. Brother wands are extremely rare," James said before continuing reading, hoping to get off the subject.

**Harry swallowed.**

"**Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… ****After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."**

"Is he admiring Voldemort?" Fabian asked incredulously.

"I think he's just admiring the magic," Hermione said with a frown, "The magic that Voldemort used was very advanced. It took a lot of knowledge and power to be able to use it."

"I suppose that makes sense," Sirius said, "It still sounds weird the way he's saying it though."

"He probably could have worded it better," Hermione agreed.

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

"**Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"I know what you mean," everyone that was raised in the Muggle world said.

"**You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life — and yet — he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

"**Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last.**

"That's because you are," Lily said in a motherly way.

"That's not quite what I meant," Harry said blushing.

"**All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander… but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry — I mean, the night my parents died."**

"I can see why that would be difficult to handle," Regulus said, "You've grown up without any knowledge of the wizarding world and all of a sudden all of these people expect you to be the best because the Dark Lord fell when he tried to attack you. No offense meant, but it's unlikely that you actually did something that caused him to fall. You were only a baby after all."

"No offense taken. I really didn't do anything, but sit there. It was something else. You should find out at the end of the book," Harry said, happy that there was someone who realized that a one year old couldn't possibly have defeated a wizard as powerful as Voldemort.

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

"**Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact."**

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

"**Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me…. See yeh soon, Harry."**

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"That's the end," James announced.

"He didn't tell you how to get on the platform," Lily groaned.

Harry and Ron shared a smile, "Don't worry I got on just fine."

* * *

**A/N: All done! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. As always if you have any questions please leave them in a review or pm me. I put som asterisks beside some things that I wanted to explain, as I've seen other Authors do before. If people deside they'd rather I didn't do that I will stop. Although I won't really do it that much in the story anyway.**

**Lorcan McLaird, whom I said was the minister of magic during the 1970's, was an actual minister. I'm not sure exactly when he became minister only that it was sometime before 1980. There were a couple of ministers that I could have chosen, but I liked Lorcan's name, so I chose him. I know a lot of people use Millicent Bagnold, But she wasn't minister until 1980-1990 and the people from the past are from the year 1979. You can find out this information on the Harry Potter wikia.**

**The wand in front of Olivander's wand shop, was actually made by him, though I did make up what it was made of and when it was made, as I could not find out that bit of information. This I also Found on the Harry Potter Wikia.**

**Finally for Atlas' wand. Obviously I had to make up his wand, but when I was making it I didn't know what wand lore JK Rowling used when she made her wizards wands (though I did find discriptions of them on the Pottermore wikia after I had made Atlas' wand). This being said, I used a diferent website and their explaination about the wand wood and wand core (though the wand core explanaitions were very similar), so if you'd like to know why I chose those specific wand core and woods this is the link (just remove the spaces): www. and www. wizardwands,net **


	7. Chapter 6 - Interlude

**A/N: First of all I'd like to say that I am really sorry for not having this chapter up last week like I said I would. There's a part near the end that was really difficult for me to get out. It's the first meeting between Adeline and Regulus, because I thought that that particular scene needed to be fleshed out. Regulus is a Death Eater after all and Adeline is a Muggle, their crossing paths needed to be explained.**

**Okay, I wasn't planning on revealing Atlas' parentage officially until the chapter after next, but it came up in the story, and I just couldn't bring myself to change it. This does mean that I was able to use the actual description I wanted to for Adeline though, so it's all good. None of the people form the past will find out until the Sorting Hat chapter, though.**

**There is one thing I've changed about Regulus from cannon, and that's his age. It doesn't say when he died, other than it being in 1979, but it does say how old he was, at least the Harry Potter Wiki does. Originally he's eighteen, two years younger than Sirius. I'm having him being one year younger than Sirius and therefore nineteen when he dies (which is just a couple of days away from the reading). This is because I needed Regulus and Adeline to know each other for more than a few months before he died.**

**I'd like to thank all of the people who decided to Follow/Favorite my story.**

**I'd like to give special thanks to my only reviewer for the last chapter who was a guest reviewer and merely went by the Moniker "Guest".**

**I'm pretty sure that's all I needed to say, so you may proceed to the story after this brief disclaimer.**

**********Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of J.K. Rowling and her affiliates. I do not intend to infringe on anybody's rights and the following story is made for pure enjoyment and does not make any profit. The only thing I do own is Atlas my OC and the parts he plays in this rendition of Harry Potter.**

* * *

"It's only eight-thirty but I think we should stop reading until tomorrow," Remus said looking at his watch.

"That would probably be for the best," Lily said, "Theses first few chapters have been pretty trying, and I'm pretty sure that we all have things we wish to discuss amongst ourselves."

Everyone agreed and was about to group off but Atlas stopped them before they could, "I think we should go ahead and make sleeping arrangements. There's not enough rooms for everyone to have there own, so we'll have to split up and then decide which rooms we want to stay in."

"That's probably a good idea," Lily said, "The couples should obviously stay together, and I think Hermione should have her own room, as she's the only girl other than Alice and me, who will be staying with our husbands. That will mean that three of the boys will have to share a room, though."

Everyone looked at each other, unsure of how they were going to split up. Everyone agreed that Hermione should have her own room, but nobody wanted to be split up from there friends or be placed with one of the Slytherins; past or present. Atlas, decided to speak up, as he didn't mind staying with one of the Slytherins.

"I'll stay with Draco and Harry, Ron, and Neville can share a room. That should take care of who's sleeping with who as I'm pretty sure I already know who everyone else will stay with." Everyone nodded, as it wasn't that hard to figure out. The twins would obviously be staying together, and nobody really wanted to stay in the same room with either of the Death Eaters. Snape didn't particularly want to stay with anybody else either, so staying with Regulus was the best idea. That only left Remus and Sirius to share a room, which they didn't mind at all.

"I guess all we have to do now is choose which room we're going to stay in," Hermione said.

"Well, James and I will take the room we went into earlier. It already has our names on it," Lily said pointing towards the plaque on the door, which proudly displayed _James & Lily Potter._

"I guess the magic of this place automatically prints the names of the people who go in each room. Hopefully the rooms aren't made for only two people," Remus said.

"That would be a irritating, but I can't imagine that they would be. The people from the future knew who they were bringing here. Surely they wouldn't force us into that sort of situation," Hermione said logically.

"Well, since we already know who's sleeping with whom we should go ahead and choose our room. We'll have plenty of time to talk afterwords," Frank said and everyone agreed.

Once everyone had decided on a room their arrangements were like so: Facing the kitchen Sirius and Remus had the room closest to the kitchen on the right hand side. James and Lily were next to them and Harry, Neville, and Ron were next to them. Hermione had the room closest to the fireplace on the right hand side. On the left hand side opposite of Sirius and Remus were Frank and Alice. Beside them was Fabian and Gideon. Next came Atlas and Draco and beside them, closest to the fireplace on the left hand side were Regulus and Severus.

Once all of them had figured out the sleeping arrangements they broke into several groups. James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily were standing by the entrance of their rooms discussing what they had already read and what was to come.

"These books haven't be easy to read through and we've barely even started," Lily said softly, "I'm worried about what is still to come."

"I know what you mean. If reading about Harry's Hogwarts years is supposed to help us in the future, how bad must they be?" James said with a grimace. It wasn't a fun thought at all.

"It doesn't help that these books don't seem to have chapter titles. If they did we might be more prepared for what would happen later in the story," Sirius said.

"I'd like to know where we are," Remus said gesturing toward himself and Sirius.

"That's a good question. You, Peter, or I should be there for Harry, but we're not. If we're not dead, then where are we?"

"I'm sure wherever you are, your unable to see him. You'd be there if you could," Lily said trying to comfort the two.

"She's right, besides he seems to know you, so you must show up at some point in the books. We'll be able to figure it all out when we keep reading," James agreed.

"I wish we could talk to him," Lily said after a few minutes of quiet contemplation.

James frowned sadly, "Me too, but he'll come to us when he's ready. It's probably really difficult to come up to us right away."

"I know, but I really wish I didn't have to wait," Lily said leaning into her husband.

"What about Atlas?" Remus asked after a few seconds.

"Ugh, there's not much we can really do about him until we find out who his father is," Sirius said with a grimace.

"You could always ask him," Lily said.

"I'd really rather not."

"Why?" James asked.

"Because I'm afraid of being his father," Sirius said and the others raised there eyebrows at him, so he continued, "I'm not exactly father material guys. I'm too immature and I like to play around, and the most responsibility I ever had for another life was a joint owned owl with Regulus and then later, you, James, and the both of you tool more care of the things than I ever did. I don't think I'd do him any justice if I was his father."

"Sirius, I'm not the most mature person either, you know," James said, "Besides the fact that you're worrying about all of this in the first place proves that you'll be a better father than you think."

"he's right Sirius. If Atlas turns out to be your son, then you'll step up to the plate and do right by him," Lily assured.

"I suppose... I'm still waiting until he decides to tell us though."

"There's nothing wrong with that Paddy," Remus said. A few minutes later the four of them decided to go to their separate rooms and try to sleep. It was still rather early, but they were worn out from the emotional roller coaster they had just been on that day. Unfortunately, they had a feeling that the ride was just beginning.

* * *

Frank and Alice were in their room, having decided to just stay there after they had chosen their room. They were curled up together on the king sized bed, Alice's head leaning against Franks chest. They were both dressed in some night clothes they had found in the wardrobe. Frank wore navy blue bottoms and a white shirt while Alice's was a long white nightgown. Both pajama sets were made of satin.

"I wonder why Neville seems so hesitant in coming to us?" Alice asked.

"I don't know, but he's acting a bit like Harry in that regard. Perhaps we're dead in the future too," Frank said with a frown, "I can't think of any other reason why Mother would be raising him."

"I suppose you have a point. I hope it's something else, though," She said.

"I can't think of anything else that would be better than death that could be keeping us away from our child," Frank said with a grimace.

"When do you suppose Neville will show up?" Alice asked, trying to get to lighter subjects. She was very excited about hearing about her little boy.

Frank smiled at the knew subject, "Oh I don't know. Perhaps the next chapter or the chapter after that. Harry has his Hogwarts supplies and train ticket now. I can't imagine what else they could talk about before he goes to school."

"Yeah. I'm so excited," she said with a little squeal before snuggling down into the covers to sleep.

Frank smiled at his wife's enthusiasm, before settling down for bed as well, "Me too," he said before turning off the lights.

* * *

Atlas and Draco were also in their room dressed in green and silver nightclothes respectively. They sat on their beds quietly for a bit. Atlas wanted to speak with Draco, but he wasn't sure how he should broach the subject. Draco on the other hand had no idea how to handle his cousin. He was a half-blood and disgraced amongst the family, but he didn't seem to care. He didn't rise to any of his insults and taunts and he even came to his defense on occasion. It actually made Draco feel bad when he said things bad about his cousin.

Eventually Atlas broke the silence, "I think you need to be very careful as we read these books," he said startling Draco out of his thoughts.

Draco snorted, "I think I figured that out for myself."

"Maybe, but things are going to get a lot worse. I don't think you realize just how horrible you sound when you insult Harry and his friends."

"What do you mean by that?" Draco sounded offended.

"You call Hermione horrible names that most people consider one of the worst swear words you could say. You make fun of Harry because his parents are dead. Ron's uncles, his mothers brothers, are here and you don't pull any punches when it comes to insulting her. If your not careful you're going to end up digging yourself a grave."

Draco sighed, knowing his cousin was right, and did the one thing he never thought he would do – he asked for advice, "What do you think I should do?"

Atlas looked at him surprised for a moment, before letting a wide smile cross his face. Draco saw it and rolled his eyes at how easy it was to please his cousin.

"Well personally I think you should apologize and stop acting like a git, but since that's something you should actually be sincere about, I think you should keep your comments to a minimum. Keep the focus off of yourself and pay attention to the books. I know you've already been rethinking this ridiculous rivalry between you and Harry, so just keep doing that and you'll figure it all out eventually."

"So pretty much what I have been doing?" Draco asked with a frown.

"Pretty much," Atlas said cheerfully before crawling beneath his covers.

"Awful lot of help you are," Draco grumbled as he got ready to bed too.

* * *

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville had decided to stay in the reading area after everyone else had moved away. Neville had taken the spot beside Hermione on the couch and he reveled in the warmth still collected there. This is where his mother had sat. His father was just beside her. It was a wonderful feeling at the same time it was a scary feeling.

Before the three friends could begin talking they were interrupted by the twins, "Hey Ron," Fabian said and Ron looked up at him, though it was Gideon that spoke next.

"We'd like to speak with you for a moment, if you don't mind."

"Er..." Ron said, unsure, and looked to his companions. They all smiled at him and nodded their heads in encouragement and he looked back at his uncles. "Sure," he said and the three of them made their way over to the fire place to give themselves some privacy.

"I hope whatever they're going to talk about goes well," Hermione said.

"Yeah, Ron's always wanted to meet his uncles," Harry said.

"And what about you two? Haven't you always wanted to meet your parents? Why are you avoiding them?"

"Hermione, it's not..." Harry trailed off, not sure how to explain what he and Neville were going through. Luckily he didn't have to as Neville came to his rescue.

"You wouldn't understand," he said quietly.

"I can try," she challenged.

"We're scared," Harry decided to answer, "Hermione, they're our parents. Parents we never knew anything about. I only have a very small insight to what my dad was like and most of that comes from when he was in school. Sirius and Remus didn't really have a lot of time to tell me stories, because they were too busy trying to keep me alive."

"My Gran doesn't really talk about my parents much either. It's mostly about how great a witch and wizard they were. There's nothing really personal, because it hurts her to talk about them. And they're not exactly in the right state to tell me themselves." Neville said the last sentence bitterly.

"That's why this is such a wonderful opportunity!" Hermione exclaimed, "Now you can finally know what they're like."

"And what if we don't want to?" Harry challenged.

"What?" Hermione asked, thoroughly confused as to what he was saying.

Harry breathed a sigh and looked towards Neville before turning back to Hermione to try and explain, "What if we don't want to know what they're like? What if they're completely different to how we always imagined them? Both of us-" he motioned towards Neville and himself, "-have preconceived notions on how they might act, but those could be wrong. They could be disappointed with us or not even like us at all."

"How could they not like you! You're their sons!" Hermione said appalled at the very thought.

"The Dursleys hate me and I'm their nephew, and I've met people at my old Muggle schools that were hated by their parents. It's not _that _uncommon," Harry pointed out.

"Harry's right," Neville said, "We're worried that they'll be disappointed in us and that we'll be disappointed in them. If this whole thing doesn't work out, if the people from the future didn't get something right and we get stuck with memories from this and don't like our parents... It would be too horrible for words."

"And wouldn't it be just as horrible to be left wondering for the rest of your life?" Hermione questioned, "To know that you had wasted what will likely be the only chance you'll get to know your parents?"

"You don't understand Hermione-" Harry began, but was swiftly cut of by Hermione, who had stood up and began speaking in a harsh, yet quiet tone.

"No, I think I understand perfectly Harry Potter. It's true that I don't understand the pain the two of you are going through because of this situation, I can't even fathom it. What I do understand is that the two of you are acting like cowards."

"What?" Harry asked incredulously, not sure if he'd heard right. Neville just sat their wide eyed and gaping.

"You heard me; cowards. You're running away from your problems with your tail between your legs, because of what might happen. Your avoiding the chance of a lifetime, something most people would die for, because your afraid you can't handle the truth. The Harry Potter that I know stands up to Voldemort, and isn't afraid to tell off those he loves if he thinks they need to be set strait. The Neville Longbottom I know stands up to his friends to get them to do the right thing, even if it means losing them. He runs to the Ministry to save a man he knows nothing about other than that he was sent to Azkaban for murder, because it's what his friends need. The Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter I know aren't cowards."

It was a long speech and when Hermione was done, she simply glared at her two friends, who could only stare at her I surprise. She knew it was harsh and perhaps could have been put more gently and elegantly by another, but she knew they needed to hear it. They were her friends and she wasn't going to let them ruin their lives because they were too scared to walk up to their parents and say 'hello'. She knew she needed to speak with Atlas as well, as he was in a similar boat. She'd have to approach the subject a little differently with him, because his father was a death eater, and while he had been told by his mother that he had redeemed himself, she was a woman in love, who only had his own word to go by. Although the fact that said woman was a Muggle did receive him brownie points.

When Harry and Neville were still too stunned to speak after her tirade, Hermione decided to give their thoughts one more little nudge, though her voice was softer and she sat down for it, "Harry, your parents gave their lives to save you and your parents were likely in the same boat Neville, because you had to be in the house with them somewhere. They loved you then and they'll love you now, but you have to give them the chance.

"Perhaps you haven't seen it, because you spend so much time trying to avoid looking at them, but they're always looking at you. They look so happy when you respond to what they say and yet terribly sad that you're not there with them. These books are going to be hard to read through. Our Hogwarts years were terrible and I have a feeling that the seventh book will be the hardest. You need to figure yourselves out and soon, before it's too late."

And with that Hermione got up and made her way to her room leaving the boys to reflect on her words. '_I just hope they understand soon, and I hope they're not too mad at me. But either way I'd do it again in a heart beat. I'd rather they be angry at me than ruin their lives, because they'd never forgive themselves if they let this opportunity slip by._'

* * *

Ron was nervous. He had never met his uncles and wasn't sure how to react. He knew from how they acted in the reading that they were a lot like Fred and George, but they were still unknowns to him. They also had very serious looks on their faces, something that just didn't seem to belong there. He knew what they wanted to talk about was important and that made him all the more nervous. What if he wasn't able to answer what they wanted to ask? Whether it be because he didn't know or it would spoil the books, he didn't want to let these men down. They were heroes and, even though he'd never met them, he had always looked up to them.

"So... uh," Ron said and winced. He couldn't believe that was the first thing out of his mouth. He looked over towards the fire and refused to meet there eyes.

"We wanted to talk to you about what we read," Gideon said looking at his nephew. He saw him frown in confusion before his face cleared.

"Oh, that," Ron said. He was definitely starting to feel a bit awkward. He wanted to get to know his uncles, but he didn't really want to talk about their deaths. He'd answer their questions anyway, though. He'd probably want to know more about what happened if it were him.

They hesitated for a moment and looked at each other, before turning back to Ron. Fabian was the one that spoke up, "Do you know how...?"

Ron let out a breath and looked his uncles in the eye. He didn't really want to talk about it, especially now that he had met his uncles, but he knew they deserved the truth. They deserved to know that they had died heroically.

"The war had already ended, it was early November. I don't know much, but I know that you both took down five death eaters before you died," he said. The twins looked at each other, not really sure how to respond to that, before Gideon spoke up.

"Well, at least we took some of them with us," he said and the other two nodded. "We'd like to talk more, but it might be better if we waited till morning. You're probably pretty tired."

"Yeah, that would be great," Ron said with a wide smile.

"I'd avoid going back to your friends if I were you though," Fabian said, "It looks like Hermione is giving Harry and Neville a tongue lashing," Fabian pointed toward the trio at the couches and Ron could see Hermione standing up and looking furious.

"Yeah, thanks," he said and then mentally apologized to the two boys, but he wasn't about to get into the middle of it. If they wanted to talk about it, they could do so in the room.

* * *

Regulus and Severus were in the kitchen drinking tea. They had decided that they wanted privacy to talk, but they didn't really want to go to their room just yet. They sat there for a good ten minutes without saying a word. Regulus knew that his friend had questions and he knew that he would have to wait until Severus spoke before he could say anything. Fortunately Regulus was good at the waiting game, even better than Severus, so he could sit still and quiet until the other man was ready to speak.

"Why are you being so friendly to everyone?" Severus demanded.

"Because, we're stuck in this room for who knows how long with people firmly planted in the light. They far out number us, so it's simply smart to act friendly," Regulus explained.

"Or maybe you just want to get on your brother's good side," Severus sneered.

"Maybe I do," Regulus said defensively, before continuing more softly, "We used to be close, but I let my parents influence my decisions and he let his friends influence his. But he's my brother and I still care about him, despite how I've acted towards him in the past."

"Fine," Severus said, conceding his point. He knew how his friend had felt as he and his brother grew apart, but that didn't explain the others, "But what about the others? You seem to be more than simply acting and you listen more intently than you should."

"More intently than I should? They said these books would help tell more information on the Dark Lord's defeat. Shouldn't you be paying more attention?"

"Certainly not with the boys home life and that doesn't mean that I have to participate to the degree that you seem to be. No, there's something else going on. Something that's been going on even before we came to this room and I want to know what."

Regulus sighed. He should have known that Severus would pick up on his attitude sooner or later. Regulus looked into his friends eyes and wondered if he was ready to tell and if Severus was ready to hear. Of course it didn't really mater as Regulus didn't really see much choice but to tell him. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before he spoke.

"It's the Dark lord," he said and Severus' eyebrows shot up, "I'm having doubts. I'm beginning to think that I made a mistake – no, I _know _I made a mistake in taking the mark."

Severus looked shocked, he had never thought that he would here his friend say such things, "What are you saying?" he hissed, "Do you have any idea what would happen if someone heard you speaking like that?"

"Of course I know. That's why I haven't said anything even to you. Besides, it would not matter if thay heard me saying such things if they ever found out what I did."

"What you did?" Severus asked in confusion. He knew his friend was smart and would never do anything to jeopardize himself, even if he had begun to have doubts.

Regulus sighed and looked his friend in the eyes. Severus could see a great burden hidden in their depths, something he had not seen since he had been sorted into Slytherin and was drifting from his brother. Given what the circumstances were that could put that look in his friends eyes, Severus knew he shouldn't have been surprised by what Regulus said and yet he was completely speechless at the words that came out of his mouth.

"I have fallen in love with a Muggle."

"What?" Severus asked once he had regained the use of his vocal cords and even then the word came out as a squeak, something he would deny to his dieing day.

"I have fallen in love with a Muggle," Regulus said before launching into the story of his meeting.

* * *

It was seven in the morning, pouring rain, and the beginning of January. All of these factors contributed to the foul mood that Regulus Black was in. Of course he knew he couldn't leave. He was on a mission and he took his missions very seriously. He was young, but he was loyal. He had joined the ranks of the Dark Lord the minute he had turned seventeen, which had been march of his sixth school year (he was now a seventh year). Still being in Hogwarts he could not take on missions very regularly; only when time allowed and he still had to keep up his grades, so he had only taken two missions during summer break and he was now taking his third, during winter break. Even though he was young and hadn't been on many missions yet, Regulus had made a name for himself within the Dark Lord's ranks. He was a very charismatic person and was able to get several Hogwarts students to join with Voldemort (even a Gryffindor!) and already had several outside contacts, who, while not apart of the cause, supported it wholeheartedly and were loyal enough if given a small fee.

It just so happened that it was one of these contacts that he was waiting for. His name was Mervin and he was one of his most trusted contacts. He lived in Wales, where Regulus was now, and was always able to get good information, either about the ministry, the Order of the Phoenix, or possible recruits. Unfortunately, he also happened to be his eternally late contact. A fact Regulus had wished he'd taken into account when Mervin had asked him to meat in front of the small bookstore an hour ago.

Regulus moved to stand under the eves of the Book shop a short ways away from the door. His body was soon cloaked in the shadow of the building and he knew that unless someone was looking for a person hidden there, no one would see him. He pulled his cloak tighter around him in hopes of staving off the chill. He was hoping that Mervin would hurry up, but he wasn't going to hold his breath. He was going to do some serious damage to that imbecile when he got there for making him wait for so long.

It was half past seven when Regulus finally saw a figure moving swiftly in his direction. He was happy because he thought that it was Mervin, but as the figure moved closer he realized that it was too short to be his contact. He frowned and watched as the figure continued progressing towards the Book store. It didn't take long for the person to get close enough for Regulus to tell what they looked like.

It was a woman, which would explain the short stature. The girl was actually much shorter than he had originally though, likely only reaching five feet. She wore a long black coat and had tan pants. Her umbrella hid her hair and face from view until she was much closer. Her hair was held up in a loose bun, but Regulus could tell that when it was let down it would flow to mid-back; it was dark red. Her face seemed pale, but not sickly, almost like porcelain and her features were delicate enough that Regulus was sure if she had not been moving she would seem like a porcelain statue. Her eye were amber, much like the color of a werewolves, but her eyes were warm, like a softly glowing hearth. When she came to the sidewalk he was able to make out some of what she was saying.

"I can't believe him!" she said angrily, "The nerve of that man calling me so suddenly to do _his_ job! He's such a... a... _carrot_!"

"_A carrot?" _Regulus thought, briefly wondering if this girl wasn't all there.

When she made it to the door she pulled out a large ring of keys, trying out several of them and complaining about her ability to insult. Regulus was a little stuck on what to do. He certainly didn't need to be caught lurking in a dark ally at seven in the morning when it was poring down rain. On the other hand he needed to make sure that Mervin knew he was there when he showed up, because he'd likely leave instead of wait in the rain like Regulus.

"_Why do I keep him around again?"_ he questioned himself, before starting when the girl yelled and threw her hands up in frustration after trying all of the keys on the ring. Unfortunately when Regulus jumped back a little he landed on a piece of plastic, which made a rather loud crinkling noise. He prayed that it wasn't heard over the sound of the pouring rain. The last thing he needed was to get involved with the Muggle police.

Alas his luck just wasn't holding today and the girl froze and turned sharply towards him. Her eyes were sharp and her voice hard and cold when she spoke. Nothing like what he would have expected from a small Muggle girl.

"Who's there?" she asked and brandished her umbrella in front of her like a sword, "Show yourself!"

Regulus would have laughed at the sight if the girl hadn't looked like she could actually use her umbrella like a sword. He'd studied a bit of sword play (being from a noble house he and his brother were forced to at least learn a few of the basics) and, while her stance wasn't one he recognized, he couldn't find any openings. Of course he knew he could beat her with magic, but he was in the Muggle world and he didn't want to risk being found out. Even if nobody could see him, a wizard would know and that would go against the reasons for meeting in the Muggle world in the first place.

"I said-" the Muggle began as he took a little longer deciding what to do than he had meant. He cut her off, however, before she could continue.

"I heard you and I'm coming," he said with a bite. He really didn't need this distraction or anyone prying into his business and he certainly didn't want to pretend to be some Muggle, but he knew it was inevitable. Hopefully he could get her to leave if he acted like a git.

Regulus walked out of the shadows and back into the poring rain. The girl backed up a couple of paces to put some distance between the two. She looked him up and down, likely trying to see if he was a threat before ultimately settling on his frowning face. She studied it carefully and soon a couple of minutes had passed and he was just about to lose his temper when the girl spoke up.

"What were you doing there under the eves?" she asked.

"Trying to stay out of the rain,'' he answered steadily.

"Yes, I figured that," she snapped, "I meant what were you doing standing under the eves of a store that doesn't open for another two hours. As a matter of fact none of the stores around here open for another couple of hours." Regulus supposed it would be rather weird and had guessed that someone might ask if they had seen him so he had decided to make up a story. He just hoped it wasn't too flimsy.

"I'm waiting for a friend. He borrowed a book from me and told me to meet him here to give it back. He' running a bit late."

"So he decided to tell you to come wait by a bunch of shops that don't open till nine?" she asked suspiciously.

"He's a weird guy."

"And you decided to wait for him even though he's late and it's pouring down rain," she said.

"I like that book." Regulus really wished she would stop asking him questions and be on her way.

It appeared that he was in luck because the girl just snorted and pulled a hair clip out of her purse and turned back towards the door. Regulus guessed that she had decided he wasn't a threat, since she had let her guard down. Regulus watched in mild curiosity as she fiddled with the lock and hairpins. When he caught himself wanting to ask what she was doing he forced himself to feel indifference. He was a death eater and he shouldn't be curious about what a stupid muggle girl was doing.

It wasn't long before the girl was standing back up and putting her clips away. She stretched out her back for a second before picking up her umbrella, which she had leaned against the wall. Then she opened the door to the shop and went in, leaving the door wide open. Regulus was surprised that the door was suddenly open and wondered what she had done with her clips to open it, as he knew she did not have a key. When he realized what he was thinking he shook his head to regain his focus. He didn't need to be thinking about muggle things he needed to be watching out for Mervin.

Regulus made his way back under the eves and leaned against the wall, thankful that the girl had left him alone. He did find it a little odd that she had left the door to the shop wide open, though. The book store was still closed until nine and he was pretty sure that leaving the door open like that was practically asking for the place to be robbed. He didn't have to ponder the odd behavior long however as the girl came back a couple minutes later and stuck her head around the door so she could frown at him.

"Well?" She asked him impatiently. He furrowed his brows in confusion, "Are you coming in or not?"

Regulus' eyebrows shot up in surprise, "You're offering to let a complete stranger come into your _closed_ shop while you're all by yourself?"

The girl shrugged, "There's no telling when your friend will show up and I don't want you scaring off any customers by lurking in the shadows. As far as letting you in the shop... It's raining and I'd feel guilty if you got sick."

"You're not afraid of me attacking you?"

"You had ample opportunity to attack me, before I realized you were there and while my back was turned and I was picking the bookstores lock, but you didn't. That would imply that you don't plan on causing any trouble," She paused a moment and looked Regulus dead in the eyes, "Besides, I don't think your a bad person at heart," she said and then went back into the store.

Regulus stared at the open door and snorted a second at the irony of her statement. _' A muggle telling me, a Death Eater, that I'm not a bad person,' _he thought with grim amusement, before swiftly making his way inside and closing the door behind him.

Regulus made his way through the bookstore, following the girl into the back. As he walked he couldn't help but look around. He noticed that the store looked larger on the inside than the outside. He knew it was meerly an optical illusion created by the fact that the store went deeper and by the way the book cases were spaced, but he found it mildly interesting that muggles were able to create a similar effect as wizards without using magic at all.

Regulus shook his head roughly when he realized what he was thinking and looked determinedly forward. He was a death eater he shouldn't be interested in muggles at all. The only reason he'd taken muggle studies was because he needed to know how to blend in in the muggle world when he had missions there as a Death Eater. He needed to focus. He couldn't be caught thinking things like this. He was lucky that he was the second best occulemens in the death eater ranks, being just under Severus, who had helped teach him.

Soon Regulus found himself in a room in the back of the shop, or more precisely, an apartment. The girl (he really needed to figure out her name) left him satnding in the living room area as she went into a room in the back. A minute later she was on her way back with a couple of fluffy white towels in her arms.

"Here," she said handing one of them to Regulus as she began rubbing the other one through her hair.

Regulus eyed it for a moment before deciding to except, "Thanks...?" he trailed off with a questioning look.

"Adeline. Adeline Owen," she said easilly and smiled at him, "What about you? I need something to call you other than tall dark and handsome."

Regulus smirked, "Regulus Black." he didn't really see any reason to keep it from her. She was a muggle after all, it's not like she'd know him.

"Regulus? Like the constellation?"

"You know astronomy?" Regulus asked surprised. He knew that some muggles studied the stars, but he hadn't thought that someone like her would know about it. Muggles didn't put as much significance in the stars and planets as wizards did.

"Well, I always though it was interesting, but I don't really know as much as I'd like," she said as she began moving around the little apartment's kitchen gathering thing for what looked like tea, "I've read a few books and gone to an observatory a couple of times, but I don't really have that much time to give to my hobbies."

Regulus hummed and puuled out a chair at the small table. Adeline placed some tea in front of him and he said a distracted 'thanks'. He stared down at the steaming brown liquid in thought. He could feel Adeline's curious stare and he sighed before looking up. He supposed if he was going to be here any way he might as well satiate his curiosity.

"Why is there an apartment back here?"

"Well the owner used to live back here with his wife, but they had a kid a few years back and decided they needed a bigger place so they moved out. The owner decided to keep it stocked back here though, just in case. He's always been really weird about stuff like that."

"Hmmm," Regulus said thoughtfully, "Was it the owner you were talking about earlier? I think you called him a carrot?"

Adeline blushed, "Ehehe, you heard that huh?" Regulus nodded, "You'd have to know Welsh to get the reference, but even then, it's still pretty bad. I've always been bad with insults. My mind just comes up with the wierdest things, you see?"

"So, what was the reference?" Regulus asked amused.

"You're going to make me say it aren't you?" she groaned and when all he did was raise his eyebrows, she groaned again, "Fine, but I'm warning you it's really stupid. He called me and told me that he couldn't come in, of course he didn't tell me why, and said that I was the only one who had answered my phone. He needed someone to open shop for him and he likes to do it really early even though there's not much to do. He told me that if I wanted to keep my job I had to come in when he did and if he didn't receive a call within a half hour he fire me, that's what I was doing the first time I came in. Anyway I was upset, so I called him a carrot because the Welsh word for carrot is moron."

Regulus blinked for a second and then snorted, "You're right, that was stupid."

Adeline pouted, "Why do you think I didn't want to say anything?"

"Why do you still work for him if he threatens to fire you like that?"

"Because I need the money. I graduated school and decided to move out immediately," she said with a shrug, "Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but they can be really strict. I was feeling suffocated, so I decided to move out. They told me that once I moved out I was on my own and they wouldn't provide anything for me, so here I am."

Regulus nodded in understanding he knew all about strict parents and being suffocated. Regulus frowned a bit as he realized he was sympathizing with a muggle and that he was actually enjoying his time. He sighed and just decided to go with it. It's not like he would ever see her again.

It was quiet for a minute as the two sipped there tea, but soon Adeline seemed to remember something and looked at Regulus, "Weren't you waiting for someone? We can move back to the front if you want. I'd hate for you to miss your friend."

Regulus frowned as he remembered Mervin, '_Well that makes two of us. I'd hate to miss out on pounding the weasel,'_ he thought before saying out loud, "We're fine until the rain stops. He's not one for uncomfortable situations and coming out in the rain would certainly be considered uncomfortable for him."

"If you knew he wouldn't come out into the rain, why'd you come out here yourself?"

"Well, it wasn't raining when I came out."

"But it's been raining for over an hour! How long were you out there?" Adeline asked incredulously.

"Since five," Regulus grumbled.

"Five! Why on earth would he want to meet at such an ungodly hour?"

"I don't know," Regulus groaned. It was a ridiculous time. Not only did he have to get up even earlier so he'd be on time, if you took into consideration the meeting place it all added up to making them look suspicious. Regulus was only lucky (or perhaps it was Melvin that was lucky) that they had decided to meet in the muggle world. The Order would certainly never think to look there for a Death Eater.

"Why are you still friends with the man?"

"No idea," he said, but inside he knew the answer, _'I still use him, because he's the best damn informant I've got. If I were to lose him, and subsequently the information he brought, the Dark Lord would not be pleased.'_ Regulus sighed and decided he needed to steer the conversation toward a different subject. This one was making him angry and hitting a bit closer to his wizarding activities than he wanted.

"So..." he began and the two of them began to jump from subject to subject, talking late into the morning...

* * *

"...Of course, Adeline had to open shop, so it wasn't non-stop talking. It was nearly eleven before Mervin showed up, an while my morning was much more pleasant than I thought it would be I hadn't forgotten the first two and a half hours I'd been left to wait on him outside."

Severus was quite shocked with the story, but not so much so that he couldn't make a comment, "I'm surprised he'd still around," he snorted.

"Well he is my best informant, but I'm pretty sure he's more afraid of me than the Dark Lord now."

"So, Mervin came and that's it?"

"Not quite. Adeline asked me to come back and visit her when I told her my 'friend' was here. I was going to say no, I really was, but when I opened my mouth, I said yes instead. I beat myself up over it later and was simply not going to go back. What reason should I care if she thought me a liar? But I went anyway, and I kept going to see her. We finally confessed our love to each other after months of jumping around and I've been seeing her for about ten months since."

It was silent for a couple of minutes as Severus gathered his thoughts and Regulus waited for his friend to speak and then, "I feel like I should be angry that you didn't tell me about her. I'm not-" he said quickly when he saw Regulus grimace, "-but you should know that I would never have told anyone. We are blood brothers after all."

"It's not because I didn't trust you Severus," Regulus said quietly, "If the Dark Lord ever found out I would surely be tortured to insanity before finally being killed. I did not want such a thing to happen to you, should you be found keeping the secret."

"If you knew the consequences then why did you keep seeing her. Surely you know that the Dark Lord would not spare her if he found out."

"Yes! Yes I know!" Regulus yelled and stood up, before continuing more quietly, "But I couldn't stay away. I love her with all my being and don't want anything to happen to her, but I can't seem to stay away. It doesn't make any sense." Regulus sat down with a heavy sight and plopped his forehead against the table.

"Love rarely does," Severus said quietly, thinking of his love for Lily, before continuing a bit louder, "And what of the boy, Atlas. Do you know if he is..."

"I don't know," Regulus said sitting up and frowning, "It's always possible. Adeline and I haven't been saving ourselves nor have we been... er... particularly careful, so the possibility is there, but the possibility of it being Sirius is also high."

Severus frowned, "If he is yours, that would mean... I mean I..." Severus tried to speak, but just couldn't seem to spit out what he was thinking. Fortunately, Regulus understood him perfectly and knew what he was talking about.

"Yes," he said simply and they both frowned. It was a very mixed up situation. Regulus had always wanted kids someday, a wish he hadn't told anyone other than Severus, but he was starting to hope that Atlas was Sirius' son, if only to save the kid a lot grief and confusion.

"Does anyone else know about Adeline?" Severus asked, breaking through Regulus' thoughts.

"Narcissa found out when she read one of my letters to her. She promised not to tell anyone though," Regulus said glad that he was Narcissa's favorite relative. She might not have liked Muggles, but she wasn't a Death Eater and wasn't too fond of most of them either.

"Let's hope it stays that way," Severus said gravely and Regulus couldn't help but agree.

* * *

**A/N: Well that's a wrap. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter even though it wasn't a reading chapter. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter done on time. I really hope you all enjoyed the part with Adeline and Regulus and I hope Hermione wasn't too OOC. That part wasn't originally supposed to go that way. Well, at least I now understand what people mean when they say that the story wrote itself. You also now know who Atlas' father is, but you might have already figured it out. Like I said before, I don't think I made it very subtle. Anyway, I hope you all have a good week!**

**~Yua-hime~**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I am _so_ sorry that this has taken so long to get up. I really have no excuse other than having trouble with this chapter for whatever reason. The fact that this chapter has taken me _forever_ to finish, I have pretty much decided that I won't be able to stick with the update-every-week-on-Monday thing, so as soon as I finish a chapter it will be uploaded. This means that you might get a chapter sooner than a week, because some chapters don't take me quite a week to finish. This new chapter is pretty long, though the ending may seem a bit rushed, because I was really trying to get it done fast.**

**As a reminder of what happened last chapter, just so you're not confused at the beginning, It was all about conversations. The most important parts were Severus and Rugulus' conversation and the meeting between Regulus and Adeline, but you don't really need to remember what hapened there to understand what's going on here. The biggest part is the conversation between Hermione, Harry, and Neville, where Hermione gave the two boys some food for thought on approaching their parents.**

**I would like to go ahead and give special thanks to warewolf-princess558750, peevesisawesome, hpandthemaraudersrock, blackroses77, Kain129, TheGingernut, and galeankatniss who all reviewed my last chapter.**

**I would also like to thank all those who have favorited and followed my story or myself.**

**You may proceed to the story after this brief disclaimer**

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of J.K. Rowling and her affiliates. I do not intend to infringe on anybody's rights and the following story is made for pure enjoyment and does not make any profit. The only thing I do own is Atlas my OC and the parts he plays in this rendition of Harry Potter.**

* * *

Neville woke up early the next morning. Harry and Ron were still sleeping, but that didn't really surprise him. The three of them had been up very late last night discussing what Hermione had said to him and Harry. Ron had agreed with her, but he also understood how awkward it would be. He was awkward enough with just his uncles, he could only imagine how hard it would be if it were his parents.

Neville had dreamed that night, after he had finally gotten to sleep, about his parents. He dreamed that the spell hadn't worked and he was sent back to his time. His parents were still in the closed ward and he was still just as clueless about them as he had always been. Unfortunately he remembered his time in the room and he remembered seeing his parents happy and smiling and sane, but it was the memory of someone that only watched from a distance. He felt bone crushing regret and sorrow.

He had woken from the dream with a strangled cry and was quite surprised that the other two hadn't been woken up. He couldn't help thinking about the dream and about what Hermione had said. She had been right, of course. If this spell didn't work he would never forgive himself. He wasn't sure if he was ready, but he didn't have much of a choice. Whether he was ready or not it was happening and he didn't have time to prepare or wait. He had to act.

With that in mind Neville left the room and ventured out into the reading room. He wasn't sure if his parents would be awake, or if anyone would be, but he would wait for them to wake up. If he waited in his room any longer he was afraid he was going to chicken out. Of course he still had that option if his parents weren't up yet, but he had heard from his Grandmother that his parents had been early risers. It was something she said to him, when he would over sleep, hoping he would start getting up earlier or at least on time. Neville prayed that his grandmother had been telling the truth and not just saying something to get him to obey.

Neville looked around the dimly lit reading room. He saw Professor Snape and Regulus Black already in their seats speaking quietly with each other. They looked up at him when they noticed his staring and he ducked his head a little. He wasn't really afraid of them, not anymore, but they still made him a little nervous.

"If you're looking for your parents," A soft voice said causing Neville to look up in surprise at the two men and Regulus continued, "They're in the dining room. I think Mrs. Potter has decided to help your mother make breakfast."

Neville stared at him for a moment just blinking, surprised that a Death Eater had just helped him, but soon he shook it off and decided that perhaps it wasn't that odd. He was Atlas' father after all, so he couldn't be all bad. Neville gave him a quick thank you and made his way to the dining room.

When he got there he saw James, Remus, and his father talking at the table. His mouth went a little dry when he saw his father and he stood in the door way for a moment trying to regain his courage. When he was as prepared as he felt he would ever be, which was not as prepared as he would have liked to have been, he began walking towards him.

The three people at the table looked up when they noticed someone walking towards them. Frank was surprised when he saw his son walking towards him and looking very nervous. He hadn't been expecting his son to come to him so soon. He had hoped of course, but he hadn't really thought it would happen.

Neville stopped a few feet in front of his father and shifted nervously, "Er... Hi," he said and then cringed a little. He was so nervous he could hardly get anything out at all.

"Hi..." Frank said still a little dazed before snapping out of it. He looked at his son and tried to stay as open as possible. This was his son's move and he really couldn't do much else but wait for him to speak again.

"I... um... I wanted to talk to you if... uh... if you don't mind," Neville said quietly.

"Of course! Of course I don't mind," Frank said in surprise and pleasure, "Should I go get Alice?" Frank didn't want to push his son to talk to both of them at once if he wasn't ready, but he knew Alice would be upset if he didn't ask to make sure.

"Oh, uh, yes," Neville said nervously. He wanted to talk to both his parents, but he was kind of worried that he'd lose his nerve if he was left alone without his father there.

Fortunately, Remus seemed to notice his dilemma as he spoke up, "Why don't I go and get Alice? James can come with me and we can help Lily in the kitchen."

James raised his eyebrows, but one look at Neville and he caught on to what Remus was doing. He nodded his head and got up to follow Remus, but not before receiving a grateful look from both the Longbottom men.

It didn't take long for Alice to come out of the Kitchen and she was absolutely beaming when she did. The look on his mother's face as she made her way over to him was enough to calm Neville's anxious heart; at least a little bit. He knew this was the right thing and while he was still a little apprehensive he decided that the risk was worth it.

Once Alice had taken her seat beside Frank, Neville sat down, though he made sure to keep the chair away from the table – it made him feel less trapped – and began to speak, "I, uh, I know I haven't really talked to you much or been very social with you. A lot of thing happened in my time and it's made this really difficult. I don't really feel like going over it right now, since it's going to be in the books and I don't want to have to say it twice, but I decided that I want to get to know you while I have the chance – just in case this spell doesn't work out."

Frank and Alice watched their son as he spoke. He was nervous at first and didn't look at them, but as he got further along he grew more confident and soon he was looking them right in the eyes with a look of determination. The two of them couldn't help but feel proud of their child and happy that he decided to talk with them. They might not understand completely, but they knew that this was difficult for Neville.

"We really want to get to know you too, Neville," Alice said with a gentle smile.

Neville gave a small smile in return, "It will be a little wierd at first, but I'm going to try," he said and his parents nodded.

"We'll wait as long as we have to and move on only when you're ready," Frank said.

The trio talked silently for some time, though Neville wasn't entirely sure how long. It was awkward and that never really went away, though it did get a little better as time went on. They talked about inconsequential things, how living with his grandmother was, how he liked his classes, and those sorts of things. Of course Neville had refused to tell them anything that could potentially ruin the books like the adventures he had gotten into or heard about nor did he tell them what house he was in. There was really no sense in telling them those things, because what was the point in reading the books if he did?

By the time Lily, James, and Remus came out of the kitchen, arms laden with food, the rest of the people were making there way into the dining room, likely drawn there by the delicious smell.

Harry was one of the last to walk into the kitchen and he smiled when he saw Neville sitting by his parents. He was happy that his friend was able to speak with his parents and make the first step into getting over his fear and starting a relationship with them. He wished that he was as brave as Neville was. Many people thought of Harry Potter as being brave because of his continued resistance against Voldemort. But Harry really wasn't as brave as people thought. Sure, he wasn't afraid of Voldemort he wasn't afraid of the physical pain that Voldemort could impose, or at least not so afraid that he couldn't find the strength to face him. He was however afraid of people.

This is not to mean that he was afraid of people in general, but afraid of getting close to them. Some of it was because he was afraid of losing them to Voldemort, just like he had lost his parents. The closer he was to someone the bigger the target they made. Most of this was more a fear of trust, though. He was afraid of getting hurt by them, afraid to trust them. What if they ended up being just like the Dursleys or most of the wizarding population, whose allegiances were so fickle that they changed as often as the day turned into night.

These were the reasons that he had never told his friends about the way that the Dursleys had treated him in the beginning. It was why he was so afraid of everyone reading these books and finding out his most guarded secrets – secrets that nobody knew (aside from Atlas perhaps, and that certainly wasn't because he'd told him). He had to admit, at least to himself, that he was more afraid of finding out that his parents didn't like him than him finding out that he didn't like them. This was the real reason he had decided to play the "I don't like Quidditch" prank. Sure it was amusing and it would be something he could hold over Fred and George if this spell didn't work out (he was pranking a marauder after all), but he was also doing it to test the waters.

Harry caught his parents staring at him sadly and he ducked his head down a little in shame. He didn't want to hurt them and he was definitely planning on talking to them soon. He wasn't stupid, he knew he didn't have a lot of time, but he just needed a little bit longer to sort things out. Just a little bit longer...

Once the meal had been passed out and everyone had thanked the chefs, the food didn't really last long. There was minimal talking as most everyone was looking forward to continuing the reading and didn't want to take longer than necessary. Once everyone had finished cleaning up they sat down in the reading room, resuming the previous days seating arrangement.

"Whose turn was it to read again?" Lily asked as she picked up the book.

"Um, I think it's your turn," Atlas said.

"Really?" Lily asked a little embarrassed that she had forgotten. Not that she really needed to be. She had slept since then and been through several emotional roller coasters, but still she always prided herself on her memory.

"In that case," she said once she got her embarrassment under control and opened the book.

**Chapter 6**

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.**

"Is it ever fun?" Ron asked.

"Well, no, but it was even less fun than usual," Harry said with a grimace.

"Is that even possible?"

"Yes," Harry and Atlas said together. They both knew what it was like to be completely ignored.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him — in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.**

"That sounds wonderful," Sirius said, thinking of all the times he wished his parents would ignore him.

Regulus flinched a little, knowing what Sirius was thinking. Their parents were always yelling at him for one reason or another. Actually, Regulus used to wish they would shut up too, because they hurt his ears too. Now Regulus felt guilty about only thinking of himself instead of how Sirius felt when their parents went on a tirade. He was pretty sure that's partly what drove him to running away to stay with the Potters.

**Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty.**

**Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

"Okay, that would get a bit depressing," Sirius conceded, though he still thought that he'd rather get ignored.

"Yeah," Harry and Atlas sighed sadly.

"Do your grandparents ignore you a lot too?" Alice asked. She hadn't really spoken to him much throughout the reading, her concern being much greater for her son, but she had found that Atlas was a good friend to Neville and she wanted to get to know him a little better.

"Not as much. It was mostly after first year for the first month or so, but they got over it soon," Atlas said.

Sirius and Regulus frowned angry that his own family had made their whatever-he-was-to-them depressed. Then they sighed, they really had to figure out who's kid he was. It would make everything much less confusing.

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in **_**A History of Magic**_**.**

"I always wondered where you'd picked that name up from," Atlas said.

"You actually read it?" Hermione and Ron asked incredulously, though for to completely different reasons.

"Well, yeah. I mean I didn't know anything about the world I was going into and I didn't really have anything else to do so..." Harry said shrugging. Really he didn't think it was that big of a deal.

"Why is it so surprising that he read his school books?" Lily asked with narrowed eyes.

"Because these two aren't what I'd call studious," Hermione said pointing toward her two best friends.

The boys frowned at her and Lily was awfully tempted to scold Harry, but really what right did she have? She only had the bare minimum of what his life had been like and she certainly didn't know what it would be like the further they got into the books. She wasn't naïve. She realized that no matter how much she wished it wasn't so, her son was going to be in the thick of whatever it was that these books had been sent back for. Besides Harry wasn't particularly comfortable with them yet and she didn't plan on ruining her chances of getting to know her son by scolding him for something that she could do nothing about and that had happened many years ago for him.

**His school books were very interesting.**

"Now you're finding them interesting?" Ron asked scandalously.

"Really, Ronald," Hermione said, "We didn't grow up in the wizarding world so it's only natural that Harry would find his school books interesting."

"Yeah, but still..."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of her friend's behavior, but there was fondness in the gesture. Ron would always be Ron after all.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.**

"I did that too," Just about everyone in the room said, save for Snape and Draco, but they were both thinking it.

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day,**

"Why on earth did you leave it so long?" Lily asked.

Harry shrugged, "Less chance for them to change their mind."

**so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

"**Er — Uncle Vernon?"**

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

"**Er — I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to — to go to Hogwarts."**

**Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

"**Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"**

**Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.**

"I didn't know you knew troll, Harry," Ron said with mock surprise.

Harry snorted, "I wish. It might have come in handy."

"And why would that have come in handy?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"Er... You'll find out," Harry said without looking at her and she sighed before continuing reading.

"**Thank you."**

"Well at least you're being polite," Lily said weakly, saddened by how Harry was being treated, but happy that he seemed to be able to get past it and be the better man.

**He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.**

"**Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

"Of course not, they're illegal," James said with a role of his eyes, "Besides, even if they weren't a hole in it wouldn't matter. They're not balloons."

**Harry didn't say anything.**

"**Where is this school, anyway?"**

"**I don't know," said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.**

"**I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.**

**His aunt and uncle stared.**

"But Petunia knows how to get on the platform. She's gone with us before," Lily said angrily.

"How did she get on the platform? My parents were never able to," Hermione asked with a frown.

"Neither were my grandparents," Atlas said in agreement. "Not that I really wanted them to, but still..."

"They never actually got on the platform. There's a spell that keeps normal muggles from noticing it, but it's been modified to allow muggles who know about magic to see what happens. Only those who have magic can actually go through the barrier," Lily explained. "So even though she couldn't get on the platform she knew it was there and how to get on."

"Figures," Harry said with a frown. He should have realized it sooner, that they were just trying to find a way to keep him from being happy.

Snape also frowned, though he didn't say anything aloud. He couldn't help but feel irritated with the way that Petunia was treating Lily's son. He might have been Potter's offspring, but he was starting to realize that he was a lot like his mother, too, no matter how much he'd rather pretend that he was just like his father so he wouldn't feel guilty when he acted badly towards him. Snape knew he was going to treat Harry badly, because he wouldn't know how he was raised or how he acted and unfortunately, Lily was just going to hate him more. This whole reading thing really _was_ stupid.

"**Platform what?"**

"**Nine and three-quarters."**

"**Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."**

"**It's on my ticket."**

"**Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't ****bother."**

"**Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

"I don't know why I bothered."

"**Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

There were chuckles throughout the room at the reminder of Dudley's tail.

"Ah, they should leave it. It fits _so _well," Sirius said with a laugh.

"Yeah, besides it would be a great conversation topic," James sniggered.

"Why didn't they go already have it removed?" Hermione asked.

Lily nodded her head in agreement, "I was wondering that myself. It's already been a month... Why did they wait so long?"

"Maybe they wanted to experiment and study him. I mean, I'm pretty sure there are no cases of someone having a _pig's_ tail... well, _ever_," Atlas said thoughtfully.

Lily and Hermione looked thoughtful and seemed to come to the conclusion that that was possible. The Dursleys probably had to fight like crazy to keep their son from being a guinea pig (no pun intended). Lily grimaced at the though. She didn't like the Dursleys and she didn't like Dudley, but she wouldn't want something like that to happen to her own son, so she could, sort of, kind of _sympathize_ with them. She grimaced all the more at that horrible thought.

**Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep.**

"I did that too," Hermione and Lily said.

"I certainly didn't," Atlas said with a grimace at the very thought of not being able to sleep.

Ron snorted, "Of course _you_ wouldn't."

"Oh? Does he like to sleep in?" Sirius asked.

"If there's one thing about Atlas you should know, it's that he really likes his sleep," Neville said.

Hermione nodded, ''He sleeps more than Ron."

"Hey! I can't help it if I'm a growing teenager and need my sleep," Atlas said defensively.

"Well, you're certainly a teenager, but whether you're a growing teenager is up for debate," Harry teased, gesturing to his friends small stature.

"Hey!" Atlas said, though it was nearly drowned out by his friends laughter.

The adults watched on with smiles as they watched the friendly teasing. It was rather interesting to see how the group worked, especially as this particular brand of camaraderie was reminiscent of the marauders teasing each other.

"Alright, alright. I think we should continue with the reading now," Remus said and the teenagers settled back down as Lily continued.

**He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes — he'd change on the train.**

**He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up.**

**Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry, and they had set off.**

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him.**

"Alright, what's he playing at. He's being too nice," Regulus said with narrowed eyes.

**Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"**Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine — platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

"If he's able to look at the barrier so easily, does that mean he knew it was there?" Atlas asked.

"Not necessarily. He knows about magic so he's not compelled to ignore it, but that doesn't mean he knows that's where it is," Lily explained.

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

"**Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.**

"Those bastards!" James yelled, and everyone else was quite happy to agree as they threw out there own expletives.

"I can't believe Petunia would do that," Lily said as angry tears gathered in her eyes.

"Do they have any idea what could have happened!?" Atlas yelled. Harry's eyes widened and Neville looked a bit apprehensive. "He could have –"

Before he could continue what he was saying, Atlas was cut off by Harry, "Actually, Atlas, I'd really rather not know what could have happened." The last thing he wanted, and the rest of the room needed, was to hear one of Atlas' strange and disturbing ideas, which, while unlikely, were still possible.

Atlas blinked at him a couple of times before figuring out what he was thinking and blushed a little, "Right, I'll just keep it to my self."

"Thanks. As for everyone else, I was able to get on the train just fine and nothing happened to me, so I think we should continue reading."

Everyone else agreed, though they still hissed curses under their breaths at the Dursleys. James leaned back in his seat and wrapped an arm around Lily, who was whipping away her tears, before she continued reading.

**Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone. He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters.**

"That was probably for the best," Remus said.

**The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one.**

"Well, it's a good thing there wasn't,'' Lily said, interrupting herself. "You could have ended up who knows where."

Harry grimaced, "Yeah, that wouldn't have been good."

**In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl.**

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.**

"Well, as that's not the barrier, then that would have been a bad idea, but if it had been the barrier, it might have worked, if you tapped hard enough," Frank said.

"Really?" Harry asked curiously.

"Of course. The barrier allows magical beings to enter, but you have to apply enough pressure for it to work. You wouldn't want someone to fall through if they had a bit of magical blood in their veins, but not enough for them to be considered ''magical''.'' Frank explained.

"Is that why you have to run, the first time through?" Atlas asked.

"Yes. If you've never been through it can be nerve wracking. You might accidentally slow down half way through because you panicked or something of the like. If that happened you could get stuck. If you start out at a run, you exert more pressure than necessary, so even if you do slow down a little bit, you still go through. Either that or you'll go through so fast you won't have time to panic. Once you've made it through the first time, you know it's possible, so it's not as big of a deal, though some people still decide to run," Lily explained.

"Huh," Atlas said as he took in the information. Everyone else, who didn't know this was also rather interested and soaking up the information as well.

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"— **packed with Muggles, of course —"**

"Oh, good, it's a wizard. Although I'm not so sure talking about muggles if front of a bunch of muggles is a good idea," Fabian said.

Ron flushed a little, knowing who it was, but he knew his uncle was right. His mother just got so frantic on the morning before Hogwarts that she had a tendency to forget these things.

"Probably not, but with all the noise, most of them likely didn't pay any attention to it," Lily said.

"Still, if Harry heard it, someone else likely did as well," Frank said agreeing with Fabian.

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair.**

"You?" Gideon asked his nephew.

"Er... yeah," Ron said.

"That, figures. Molly never was very good at handling stress and the beginning of the school year is always very stressful. She would always freak out when we were younger too."

"At least Harry won't be alone and he'll be with a good wizard too," Lily said in relief and began reading again.

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him — and they had an **_**owl**_**.**

"Really? You trusted them because they had an owl?" Draco sneered and Atlas groaned.

Harry was startled for a moment, having nearly forgotten that his rival was there, before glaring at him, "I didn't trust them because they had an owl, Malfoy. I was simply confirming that they were most likely wizards because they had an owl. Muggles don't have them for pets."

Draco huffed, but didn't say anything when he caught the evil look his cousin was giving him. He had nearly forgotten that he was supposed to be keeping a low profile. This was going to be difficult.

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

"You do that a lot don't you?" Sirius asked.

Harry blushed a little, "Well, yeah, but this time I had a reason. I wasn't just going to walk up to some complete strangers. I thought that if I watched them I would find out how to get on the platform by myself ."

"That's rather smart of you," Remus said. "You don't know them, so it's good to be cautious."

"**Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

"**Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go…"**

"**You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."**

"Ginny?" Fabian and Gideon asked.

Ron nodded, "Yeah, she's my younger sister."

"So, Molly finally had a girl," Fabian said.

"She always wanted a daughter," Gideon said nodding before he saw Ron flush a little and look down, "Not that she's not happy with having sons. There's just a special connection between a mother and her daughter, or at least that's what she says. She wanted someone she could relate to and have the same kind of relationship she had with our mother."

Ron frowned in thought. He kind of understood what his uncle was saying. His mother and Ginny were rather close to each other and they did do plenty of "girly" things together, but that didn't mean that he could just forget everything he'd thought his entire life. It was hard to shake of that kind of thinking and while he had gotten much better about it recently, there were still a few lingering doubts. Maybe he could finally get everything figured out while reading these books.

Ron looked back at his uncles and smiled in gratitude, before motioning for Lily to continue.

**What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten.**

**Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

"**Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

"**I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you **_**tell **_**I'm George?"**

"**Sorry, George, dear."**

"**Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went.**

The group laughed at the twins antics.

"We used to do that all the time," Gideon said.

Fabian nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Molly always got so bent out of shape when we did that. She never did figure out that we only did it because she reacted so much to it."

**His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.**

**There was nothing else for it.**

"**Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.**

"**Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."**

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.**

"Oi!" Ron said as his friends laughed at the description.

"I'm rather thankful for my description now, even if you did compare my eyes to spoons," Atlas said chuckling.

"I don't know why you're laughing, Hermione," Harry said, trying to help Ron feel better as his face was beginning to match his hair, "I'm pretty sure your description will show up in this chapter too."

Hermione stopped laughing immediately and grimaced a little. She wasn't looking forward to that. Ron smirked at her reaction and she just glared at him.

"**Yes," said Harry. "The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —"**

"**How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

"**Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it ****at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

"**Er — okay," said Harry.**

**He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.**

"It is," Ron and Harry groaned as the rubbed their ribs.

"Oh?" James asked with raised eyebrows wondering what had happened.

"It's in the beginning of the next book," Harry said and James sighed. He should have expected that answer, not that he was really complaining. He was just happy that Harry didn't appear to be avoiding looking at them anymore. Perhaps he'd start talking more as well.

**He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble ****— leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run — the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — he wouldn't be able to stop — the cart was out of control — he was a foot away — he closed his eyes ready for the crash — It didn't come… he kept on running… he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said **_**Hogwarts' Express, eleven o'clock**_**. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words **_**Platform Nine and Three-Quarters **_**on it, He had done it.**

"Way to go Harry!" James and Sirius yelled. Harry blushed in embarrassment while the rest of the room laughed at the two men's antics.

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

"**Oh, **_**Neville**_**," he heard the old woman sigh.**

"Oh, you're finally mentioned!" Alice said excitedly.

Neville blushed a little, "I don't think I show up too much," he said quietly.

"I don't care! You're still mentioned!" Alice responded, still as excited as before.

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

"**Give us a look, Lee, go on."**

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

Ron shuddered and Harry and Hermione gave a little chuckle.

"Whatever happened to that thing anyway?" Atlas asked.

"No idea," the Gryffindor's answered.

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

"Ouch. I know that feeling," Atlas said. "I had to get someone to help me with my trunk."

"Who did you get?" Harry asked curiously.

"Draco," Atlas said and then paused, "Or I suppose, It was Crabbe and Goyll."

Atlas' friends were shocked. "Are you telling me that this git actually helped someone?" Ron asked incredulously, pointing towards Draco.

Draco looked affronted, "He's my cousin. Of course I helped him."

"Even though he's only a half-blood?"

"Yes, well, my mother decided to leave that bit out."

"Can we just get back to the reading now?" Atlas asked as there discussion became quite uncomfortable for him. He didn't really want to discuss his problems at school or the problems he had with his family.

"**Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.**

"They actually helped?" Ron asked looking surprised.

"They can be nice when they want to be," Harry said with a shrug. Ron still looked a little shocked.

"**Yes, please," Harry panted.**

"**Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"**

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

"**Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

"**What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

"Oh they just had to point that out, didn't they?" Hermione said, rather irritated with the twins. Lily couldn't help but agree.

"It's not their fault Hermione. They weren't expecting to see it," Harry said in defense of the twins.

"Besides, I wouldn't talk if I were you. Don't you remember what you said when you met him?" Ron asked. The twins might irritate Ron to no end, but they were still his big brothers and he loved them. In the grand scheme of things their reactions were probably the best out of almost everyone that had met Harry.

"**Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you —?"**

"**He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**Harry Potter**_**." chorused the twins.**

"**Oh, him," said Harry.**

The room was filled with laughter at that line and Harry's face grew such a dark red it nearly matched _Atlas'_ hair.

"Really, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I wasn't used to people knowing me..." Harry defended himself weakly.

"I'm pretty sure that most people wouldn't have said it quite like that, even if they had just found out they were famous," Sirius said and Harry just sunk down in his seat hoping for the embarrassment to end.

It was a few more minutes before everyone calmed down and Lily was able to read.

"**I mean, yes, I am."**

**The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

"**Fred? George? Are you there?"**

"**Coming, Mom."**

**With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying.**

"Harry," James and Lily said, but there tones were quite different from each other. While Lily had been scolding James had been approving.

"James!" Lily said in a much harsher tone than the one she'd used with Harry.

"What? It's not like we can do much about it. It happened six years ago. Might as well be proud of his Marauder jeans," James said and Lily blushed a little, embarrassed that she had been scolding her son for something so little that had happened so long ago, especially after she had decided not to go into a mothering mode until Harry was more comfortable around her. She looked over at Harry and when she was sure he wasn't offended or upset, she continued reading.

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.**

"**Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

"Molly!" Fabian and Gideon cried in exasperation. Ron blushed and Sirius, James, and Regulus winced.

"Talk about social suicide," James said.

"Shouldn't it be social homicide since his mother's the one that did it?" Atlas asked curiously and James looked at him a little weirdly. His friends just shook their heads fondly, all too used to Atlas' quirky thoughts.

"_**Mom **_— **geroff" He wriggled free.**

"**Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

"**Shut up," said Ron.**

"**Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

"**He's coming now."**

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter **_**P **_**on it.**

"Ugh. Prefect," James and Sirius said, not noticing the dark look on Ron's face.

"What's wrong with prefects?" Lily and Remus said with dark looks, and would have been joined by Hermione had she not been trying to calm Ron down.

"Er... Nothing," they said looking away from their angry friends/wife.

Lily let out a little snort of amusement at their reactions and rolled her eyes before she continued reading.

"**Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —"**

"**Oh, are you a **_**prefect**_**, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

"**Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once —"**

"**Or twice —"**

"**A minute —"**

"**All summer —"**

"Oh, I like them," Sirius said with a laugh and James and Remus couldn't help but agree.

"We are so proud," the twins said as if they were talking about some great accomplishment that one of their children had gone through.

"**Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

"**How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

"**Because he's a **_**prefect**_**," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term — send ****me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

"**Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —"**

"She just had to give them the idea didn't she?" Lily asked, interrupting herself.

"You'd think after living with us, she'd know not to say things like that," Fabian said in mock disappointment.

"Did they do it?" Regulus asked Ron. Ron looked a little startled at being addressed by the man, but answer anyway, as Regulus had been rather pleasant throughout the reading and he didn't really want to be rude to him while Atlas was here. He had a terrible temper when he wanted.

"Well, I don't know if they blew it up, exactly..." he said and James, Sirius, and the twins couldn't help but laugh at the thought.

"**Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

"**Great idea though, thanks, Mom."**

"**It's **_**not funny**_**. And look after Ron."**

"**Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

"Yeah, 'cause I was real safe," Ron said with a snort.

"Ron!" Harry and Hermione said exasperatedly to their friend.

"What?" Ron asked, before seeing the looks on the adults' faces. "Oh... er..." Ron looked at the group apprehensively.

"We won't ask, because we know you're not going to tell us," James said. "We all know you're fine, because you're sitting right in front of us."

"Sorry..." Ron mumbled.

"It's fine," Gideon said. Everyone else nodded. They realized that they were just going to have to find out through the reading what happened. It would be hard, because every single adult in the room had someone they cared about, who was likely to be in immediate danger in the books, but they were just going to have to remember that their children were fine, right in front of them.

"**Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

"**Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

"Oh great," was the collective groan, though they understood that it really wasn't the twins' faults.

**Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

"**You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

"**Who?"**

"_**Harry Potter**_**!"**

**Harry heard the little girl's voice.**

"**Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, eh please…"**

"Aaah! She's got a crush on you!" Sirius teased and Harry's face turned red.

"Good thing Ginny's not here," Ron whispered to Harry and he couldn't help but agree. She would be so embarrassed and by the look on his mom's face, they wouldn't really get along until she stopped acting like his fan girl, which was around the third book or so.

"No, she has a crush on _Harry Potter_ not Harry," Lily said with a huff.

"Come on Lils, it's only to be expected and she's just a little kid," James said trying to reason with his wife. Sure, he didn't like it either, but there was no sense in getting worked up about something as small as this. He knew there were going to be worse things than a few unfounded crush's to worry over.

Lily huffed, but relented. She understood what he meant. She really just needed to calm down. She sighed and made a promise to herself that she would calm down and try and enjoy as much of the reading as possible.

"**You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

"**Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there — like lightning."**

"**Poor **_**dear **_— **no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."**

"**Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

"He remembers more than he should," James said sadly.

"They had better not ask you," Lily growled.

"They didn't," Harry said before casting a side long look at Ron, who was sporting a light blush. Sirius caught the expression and narrowed his eyes a bit.

"Even if they don't ask, someone will," He said.

"If they do..." Lily trailed off threateningly before she continued reading and Ron gulped a little.

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.**

"**I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his ****first day at school."**

"Thank you Molly," Lily said reatfully and Remus, Sirius, and James nodded their heads in agreement.

"**All right, keep your hair on."**

**A whistle sounded.**

"**Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.**

"**Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

"**We'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat."**

"_**George!**_"

"**Only joking, Mom."**

"He was so not joking," Fabian said with a laugh.

"Did they send her one?" Gideon asked with a grin.

"No, it went to a better cause," Ron said with a slight laugh.

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.**

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to — but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

"Of course it will, anything would be," James said.

"Yeah, even with everything that happened, it's still better than Privet Drive," Harry said in agreement.

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.**

"**Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."**

"Was everywhere else really full?" Hermione asked in amusement.

"Of course it was," Ron said, blushing at what she was implying. He could see how she would come to that conclusion, but he hadn't been lying.

"Yeah, I had a hard time finding a seat, too, until I ran into Draco," Atlas said.

"Yes, litterally," Draco said while rubbing at his arm, which had been bruised for several days. Atlas blushed a little.

Hermione nodded, accepting the answer. She didn't think Ron was a liar, but it wasn't implausible that he might try and sit by Harry anyway. It was actually rather surprising that nobody else went looking for him.

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

"Ugh, that thing took weeks to go away, even with cleaning spells," Ron groaned and his house mates laughed, remembering his frustration with everyone pointing it out.

"What was it?" Gideon asked, surprised that cleaning spells hadn't taken care of it immediately.

"A magically altered oil stain. I had been helping dad in his garage the day before and some of it got on me."

"**Hey, Ron."**

**The twins were back.**

"**Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

Ron shuddered once again at the mention of the spider. He didn't know what had happened to it, but he was glad the bloody thing was gone.

Harry patted his arm sympathetically, "I don't think there's any more mentions in this book. The second book on the other hand..."

Ron blanched, "You just had to remind me of that, didn't you?"

"**Right," mumbled Ron.**

"**Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."**

"**Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

"**Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

"Really, Ronald?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.

"What? I was eleven and had just met _Harry Potter_ of course I was going to ask, and don't forget, you didn't do much better when you met him."

Hermione blushed a bit and turned her head away from her friends. Harry just laughed at his friends antics.

**Harry nodded.**

"**Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you ****really got — you know…"**

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.**

**Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

"**So that's where You-Know-Who —?"**

"**Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

"**Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

"Ron!" Hermione yelled.

"I can't believe you asked him that?" Lily said glaring at the red head who shrunk back.

"Guys, don't get so upset!" Harry said standing up, "I'm the one that brought it up. Ron might have left it alone if I hadn't siad anything."

"But still, he-" the two girls said.

"Not to mention," Harry cut over what the two girls were saying, "This happened over six years ago. It's not something he should be yelled at for now."

Lily and Hermione still looked upset, but decided to concede the point. Hermione really didn't want Harry mad at her and really it was a long time ago. Lily on the other hand was worried that her constant out bursts were driving Harry away. He didn't seem particularly upset, but she was still worried. She just sighed and decided to continue reading. Their wasn't anything she could do about it until Harry decided to approach her anyway.

"**Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

"**Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

"**Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found ****him.**

"Really?" Ron asked, surprised.

"Well, yeah. I wanted to know how wizarding families were and about how wizards lived," Harry said like it was obvious and really it was obvious, because he had grown up in the muggle world with a horrible family. Ron just hadn't seen it, because he was so self conscious. Apparently he hadn't completely gotten over his self confidence and jealousy issues yet, a fact that really irritated him, because he really did want to get over it. Unfortunately it was one of those things that was easier said than done.

"**Er — Yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but ****we never talk about him."**

"Why not?" Hermione asked a little defensively.

"How should I know? I've never even met the guy," Ron said.

"If you've never met him how do you know he's an accountant?" Remus asked, genuinely curious.

"Mom mentioned him once, said she thought he was an accountant. She was talking to dad, but I don't know what the conversation was about, because I only caught that part of it," Ron said with a shrug.

"Why haven't you ever met him, if he's a part of your family?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"I don't know," Ron said as he started to get a little defensive as well.

Atlas decided to speak up, "Hermione, you need to chill. I highly doubt that they don't talk to the guy because he doesn't do magic. You should know Ron's family better than that. Besides, how many second cousins do you keep in contact with?"

"Er..." Hermione said blushing a little. She should have thought about that. Of course the Weasley's would never disrcriminate like that. She was so used to having to defend herself and muggles from people like Malfoy that she had done it out of reflex. Even with that, though, she had taken things too far.

"I'm sorry, Ron. I didn't mean anything by it. I just overreacted," she said meekly.

Ron looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes, before huffing and rolling his eyes, "Fine. Just don't do it again. You know I'd never treat anyone differently from anyone else."

"He's right, Hermione. Ron's equally rude to everyone," Harry said with a slight smirk, hoping to lift some of the tension. It seemed to work because the room started laughing and Ron started yelling.

"Oi!" he said with a light punch to his friends arm. He wasn't really offended, because he knew Harry was just joking and because he would admit to himself (and only himself) that it was sort of true.

"**So you must know loads of magic already."**

**The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

"Not exactly," Ron and Draco grumbled at the same time and then looked disgusted with themselves. Atlas couldn't help but let out a laugh at how his friend and cousin looked.

"**I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

"I can think of a few good ways to describe them..." James muttered angrily.

"**Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

"**Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy.**

"Why would you look gloomy?" Alice asked.

"Urgh. You'll find out," Ron said as he sunk closer to the ground. Harry looked at him sympathetically. He remembered this conversation and knew that it wasn't going to be pleasant for his friend. Hermione, who wasn't there for the conversation, looked a little worried. She had no idea what Ron said, but she was fully aware of his insecurities and just how bad they had been in first year.

"**I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first.** **You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."**

Nobody was really sure what to say after that. None of them had ever had that problem before and none of them really knew Ron well enough to try and talk to him. If any one of them was qualified it was either his friends from the future, who apparently already knew about this, or his uncles. Unfortunately Fabian and Gideon didn't really know him very well and the only thing that qualified them to talk with Ron about his problems was their title as uncle, which under the circumstances didn't really mean much.

The two men looked at each other and then looked back at their nephew, who looked like he really just wanted to continue with the reading, and came to a quick decision. It was obvious that his friends knew what was going on and they had likely talked to him before. This had happened six years ago, after all. That being said they decided that it was best just to leave it alone for now and if it came up again in the books closer to the time Ron was from, then they could discuss it. That way they either weren't rehashing something that wasn't a problem anymore or they were waiting until they knew their nephew better and would be able to better help him with his problem.

With those thoughts in mind they told Lily to continue her reading and nodded to Ron when he gave them a grateful look.

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.**

Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Atlas adopted hostile expressions at the mention of Ron's old rat. Nobody else in the room knew what was going on and thought that it was stranger that the teenagers showed such hate for a pet rat, but nobody said anything, knowing that they wouldn't get any answers anyway and that they would find out sooner if they just continued reading.

"**His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff — I mean, I got Scabbers instead."**

**Ron's ears went pink.**

**He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

"Ronald!" Hermione yelled along with Ron's uncles. Fabian and Gideon weren't the kind of people to scold someone too much unless whatever they did was dangerous, but they were a little surprised that Ron would be cheered up by something like that, especially after what they'd read.

Ron blushed deeply and sunk into his seat as Sirius, Remus, James, and Lily glared.

"Hey, Ron didn't actually say he was happy, it's just what I thought. This is in my point of view, so don't take everything at face value. And lets not forget that I didn't tell anyone what life at the Dursleys was like. All Ron knew was that I got hand-me-downs and never had really expensive gifts, or even knew that I was rich at all," Harry said as he glared at everyone in the room who were giving Ron nasty looks.

"Your right, Harry," Hermione said with a guilty look, "Sorry, Ron."

"We're sorry too, Ron. We should have thought of it that way first," Fabian and Gideon said together. Ron looked at his uncles thankfully.

The rest of the people had sheepish looks on their faces and gave Ron their own apologies before Lily continued reading.

"… **and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents ****or Voldemort —"**

**Ron gasped.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**You said You-Know-Who's name!**_" **said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people —"**

"Shouldn't he be the least afraid of saying his name?" Atlas asked.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Well if he supposedly defeated Voldemort, then wouldn't it be silly if he was afraid to say his name?"

"I suppose that makes since," Hermione said.

"What do you mean by "supposedly"?" James asked with a frown.

"What he means is that I didn't defeat Voldemort when I was a baby. That's just what everyone thinks. Really, how could a baby defeat one of the strongest Wizards, who ever lived?" Harry said.

"That's true," James said thoughtfully. " I guess I already knew Harry hadn't actually killed him, but it's so implied by everyone else I just started thinking that as well."

"**I'm not trying to be **_**brave **_**or anything, saying the name," said Harry, "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn… I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

"You're not the worst, in fact you're the best in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione said placatingly.

Harry gave her a strange look, " Hemrione this was six years ago. I know I'm not the worst in class."

"Right, sorry. I've just gotten so into this book," Hermione said with a blush.

"Besides, we all know the worst in class is Crabbe and Goyll."

All the future Gryffindor students agreed to that and even Draco had to agree, though silently. Crabbe and Goyll were the stupidest people he had ever met.

"**You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."**

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"**

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor.**

**He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry **— **but the woman didn't have Mars Bars.**

"What's a Mars Bar?" all the pure bloods, save for Draco, asked.

"It's a type of muggle chocolate bar," everyone else said, includig Snape, which surprised a few people.

"You know about muggle chocolate bars?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Padfoot, he's a half blood, remember?" James said.

"Hey, it's hard to remember sometimes. He was a Slytherin after all."

"Your a half blood?" Harry and Ron asked Snape. Hermione and Neville also looked a bit surprised, but decided not to say anything.

"I don't see why that matters to you," He sneered a little, though it lacked his usual malice.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ron asked Atlas. "You did know, didn't you?"

"I didn't think it was important," Atlas said with a shrug. Ron just frowned, but let it go. It really wasn't all that important.

**What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

"That's an awful lot of money to spend on sweets," Lily said.

"I was really hungry and I wanted to try a bit of everything," Harry said with mild embarrassment.

"I wanted to do the same thing, but I didn't have enough money," Lily said in understanding.

"I _did _do the same thing," Atlas said with a grin.

"You shouldn't eat so many sweets," Regulus and Sirius said together and then looked at each other in surprise.

Atlas shrugged and looked completely unrepentant.

"Like your one to talk Paddy," James said, with an amused look at his friend. "Besides he couldn't have possibly eaten that much."

"Oh yes he could," Harry and Draco said together and then shot each other nasty looks. Draco then continued, "And he did. He finished about five minutes before we arrived."

Atlas looked at Draco surprised that he'd added to the conversation willingly and that he'd been civil about it. He was happy that his cousin was trying since he knew that things weren't going to be good for very long. He had heard a few of the things that Draco had said about Harry while sharing a compartment and he knew that his cousin hadn't been kind during their interaction on the train.

Sirius and most of the rest of the room looked flabbergasted at Atlas. They were surprised that someone as small as he was had actually eaten all that. Regulus on the other hand continued to look at Draco.

"And why didn't you stop him from buying so much? Surely even you realized how unhealthy that was."

Draco looked at Regulus, surprised that he was being scolded by the man and was sorely tempted to say something to him, but he knew he wouldn't get away with that with Atlas in the room. Atlas was small, but he could be down right nasty when he was really angry and he was also good friends with the Weasley twins, so he thought it was better just to remain neutral.

"I was otherwise occupied when he bought it all. I'm sure you'll find out about t if you keep reading." Draco grimaced at the thought of that particular interaction and Atlas and Harry were copying his actions. Ron on the other hand was grinning rather gleefully.

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.**

"**Hungry, are you?"**

"**Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

"I wonder how true that statement is," James said darkly.

"More so than I'd like to think, I'm sure," Lily said sadly.

"I can't believe you ate that thing," Atlas said with a scrunched up face.

"Ah, come one Atlas, They're not that bad," Ron said with a chuckle.

"They are too!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Sirius asked.

"Atlas's extreme dislike for anything pumpkin related," Harry said in amusement.

"You don't like pumpkin?" Sirius asked in shock.

"No I don't and don't even think of trying to get me to eat something with that vile food in it," Atlas said with a shudder.

Sirius was still speechless as were quite a few of the people in the room.

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef…"**

"It has nothing to do with you Ron," Fabian said and Gideon nodded in agreement.

"She always forgets that we don't like cherries too. And that mom's allergic to daffodils and dad's birthday is January 3... She's just plain old forgetful" Gideon said listing a few things.

Ron smiled at his Uncles in thanks. He had always been self conscious about that.

"I didn't know you guys didn't like cherries," Frank said.

"Yep, can't stand the things," Fabian said.

"Well, you really do learn something new everyday," James said.

"**Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on —"**

"**You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you ****know, with five of us."**

"**Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, ****anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all ****Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

"So you became friends over food," James said. "Somehow, that just seems to fit."

"**What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs.**

"**They're not **_**really **_**frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

"I felt the same way," Lily said and her eyes widened when she saw him give her a smile, however small that smile was. She returned his smile with a bright one of her own, and if she didn't know any better she was sure her face would have split in two.

"**No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."**

"Really? I have several of him," Atlas said.

"You probably have all of them," Ron said.

"No I don't. I'm missing Dumbledore."

"You're joking," Ron deadpanned.

Atlas shook his head, "Nope, no matter how many times I try, I just can't seem to get a Dumbledore card. When I finally did, I was so happy that I started jumping up and down and fell in the lake, and it was washed away," he explained with a pout.

Ron laughed, "Only you..." he said with a shake of his head.

"**What?"**

"**Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or ****Ptolemy."**

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

"**So **_**this **_**is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

"**Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron.**

"No muggles have heard of Dumbledore except for those family that go to Hogwarts," Hermione said.

"I know that," Ron said with a scowl, "But it was still weird. Dumbledore's one of the most famous people around and it was hard to remember that Harry didn't know anything about the Wizarding world. I had just met him!"

**"Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa — thanks —"**

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

_**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

_**CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS**_

_**Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

"I can't beieve all that time and it was on the back of the Chocolate frog card," Ron said sighing.

"Atlas also knew about it the whole time. We shouldn't have been so secretive," Hermione said.

"Man, now I feel jipped," Atlas pouted, interupting the trios quiet conversation.

"What are you talking about Atlas?" Sirius asked.

"I don't have Dumbledore's frog card yet and half the fun is reading the information on them, especially since they add in random tidbits like the bit about Dumbledore liking tenpin bowling and chamber music."

"Really? That's what you're upset about?" Sirius asked.

Atlas sighed sadly, "Yeah..."

The group just shook their heads and Lily decided to keep reading.

**Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.**

"**He's gone!"**

"**Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron.**

"**He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting."**

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. "Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

"**Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "**_**Weird!"**_

"That _is _weird," Fabian and Gideon said. Frank and Alice nodded their heads in agreement. None of the other magical people looked all that surprised, since they all had at some point seen a muggle photograph – all save for Draco, at least, but he was determined not to be interested in any muggle things. His thoughts on Harry were already changing rapidly, even if he wasn't going to admit it aloud, he realy didn't need to start acting like a muggle-loving fool, like the gryffindor's in the room.

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin.**

**He finally tore his eyes away from the Druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.**

"**You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavor, they **_**mean **_**every flavor — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once."**

"Ugh, I've had some pretty horrible teasing ones before," Sirius said with a scrunched up nose. "I pretty much decided never to eat them again."

"I did too, after I got a pumpkin flavored one," Atlas said with utmost disgust.

"I've never really gotten any that were that bad," Harry said with a shrug.

**Ron** **picked up** **a green bean,** **looked at** **it carefully,** **and bit** **into a** **corner.**

"**Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts."**

**They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.**

"You're a braver man than I, Harry," James said with a shake of his head. He would have never tried that.

Harry blushed a little at his dad's words. They weren't really praising words – he was talking about jelly beans after all – but the words still made him feel warm inside, they still held meaning for him.

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.**

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

"Ugh, I sound like such a wimp," Neville groaned with his face in his hands.

"Tearful? Why are you tearful?" Alice asked worriedly.

"Nothing to really be that tearful about," he said, but his friends could see the fond smile on his face. He really did love Trevor.

"**Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

"**He'll turn up," said Harry.**

"**Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…"**

**He left.**

"**Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

"**He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"**

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

"**Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —"**

"That's really dangerous! Surely Molly realized this," Lily said appalled at the shape the wand was in.

"And its not even his wand. What could Molly have been thinking?" Fabian asked shaking his head at his older sister.

"Didn't Percy get a new robe and an owl? Even if she was proud of him because he was a prefect, a proper wand for Ron, should be more important. He could have been seriously injured," Regulus said with a frown.

"It shows how powerful a wizard Ron must be, if he was able to go through two years of schooling with his wand in that kind of shape," James said.

Ron couldn't help but blush at what everyone was saying, and particularly at what James had said. He had never thought of himself as particularly powerful and even though his friends had said such things to him it was nice to here it from another powerful wizard who was already out of school. It was also nice with how much people seemed to be defending him. Of course his mother didn't do it on purpose, but she was always busy with so many of them that she had a tendency to forget about Ron.

"It's um... actually only one year," Ron said deciding to correct James on how long he had used the wand.

"One year? I thought you said that you didn't get a new wand until third year," Gideon said.

"I didn't," Ron said with a slight grimace. The final outcome of his broken wand had been good, but the trouble it had caused him until then was definitely not good.

"But then..." Gideon trailed off confused.

"Let me guess, we have to wait until the second book?" James said. Ron grinned and he sighed.

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

"**Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.**

"Harry!" Hermione yelled in embarrassment before hiding her face in her hands.

"Sorry, Hermione, but I didn't actually think anyone would be reading my thoughts," Harry said, trying not to smile.

Ron didn't even pretend and just started laughing out right. He was glad that they were finally at Hermione's introduction so that she would stop telling him off for how he acted.

"**We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

"**Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."**

**She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

Many people in the room looked taken aback too.

"You're very direct," Lily said in a slightly stunned voice.

Hermione just groaned in embarrassment and kept her face hidden in her hands.

"**Er — all right."**

**He cleared his throat.**

"**Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."**

The pranksters in the group snorted in laughter and everyone else looked a little amused.

"I can't believe you thought that that was a spell," Sirius said.

"You know your brothers are pranksters, so why did you listen to them?" Remus asked.

Ron blushed a little, "Because half of what they say is actually true, and they're so good at lying that you never know if they're telling the truth or trying to prank you," he said in mild annoyance, though the people in the room could tell that he wasn't all that irritated. It was obvious that he really enjoyed his brothers jokes, even if a lot of them were aimed at himself.

"That's rather... _Slytherin_ of them," Snape said much to the surprise of the group. It wasn't so much that he'd spoken – he'd done that before – it was that he sounded like he was complimenting the twins instead of trying to get a rise out of the Gryffindors in the room.

Lily decided to continue reading, before anyone could say something that would likely ruin her old friends words. It seemed that he was changing a little no matter how slow going it was. It was giving her a bit of hope, that perhaps Severus wasn't quite out of reach yet.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.**

"**Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"**

Lily took a long breath and everyone was looking at Hermione in amazement.

"You learned the course books by heart?" Sirius asked, horrified that anyone would do such a thing.

"_Why?_" Regulus asked, just as stunned as his brother. He wasn't allergic to school work like his brother seemed to be, but memorizing texts seemed a bit crazy.

"I was nervous! I thought I was going to be _so_ behind and they were so interesting..." Hermione said blushing a deep scarlet.

Lily caught her breath and decided to save the poor girl further embarrassment and keep reading. Hermione shot her a grateful smile.

**She said all this very fast.**

**Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.**

"I'm pretty sure that Hermione's the only one who's ever done that," Remus said.

"**I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

"**Harry Potter," said Harry.**

"**Are you really?" said Hermione. **"**I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in **_**Modern Magical History **_**and **_**The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts **_**and **_**Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century**_**."**

"Yeah, and I'm sure that they're all completely fake," James said with a frown.

"I can't believe you told him that," Lily said.

"Looks like you and Ron have about the same amount of tact, huh?" Sirius said.

Hermione blushed deeply.

"**Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

"**Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."**

**And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.**

"**Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.**

"I wouldn't want to be in my house either," Hermione groaned.

"Sorry, Hermione," Ron said.

"No, no, I acted horribly. I should be the one saying sorry."

"Why don't we just agree not to say sorry for past actions that we've already resolved," Harry suggested. "That should go for all of us."

"That's a good idea," Atlas said with a nod.

"Alright," Hermione said.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

"**What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.**

"**Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw **_**would **_**be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

"That wouldn't have been good," Fabian said, but continued when he saw the look on Ron's face, "Not that I think it would be bad if _you _were in Slytherin, it's more because you're a Weasley."

"Yeah, Weasley's are "Blood Traitors" so it would have put you right in the middle of enemy territory," Gideon explained further.

"That makes since," Ron said, relieved.

"Not all Slytherins are evil you know," Atlas said with a frown.

"They're not saying they are, but the majority of them do focus on blood purity," Lily said. When nobody had anything else to say she continued reading.

"**That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

"**Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.**

"**You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. ''So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"**

**Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

"**Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron.**

"Ron, he's a Curse Breaker," Hermione said.

"I know that and I knew it then, but I was nervous and couldn't remember the name," Ron said in mild irittation that people kept acting like this had happened yesterday and not six years ago. He suddenly realized that this must be how Harry feels most of the time.

"I always thought that Curse Breaking would be fun, but I'd never be able to work with the goblins," Frank said.

"Oh, working with dragons would be awesome, though!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You're not doing it!" James, Harry, Regulus, and Atlas yelled together.

Sirius looked at them stunned, "Of _course_ I'm not. I'm already an Auror and I wouldn't be able to leave Harry and Atlas like that," he said with a roll of his eyes at their antics, "Don't worry so much."

It was their turn to look at him stunned now, with the rest of the group following suit.

"What's this? Sirius is being mature? The world must be ending," Remus said once he'd gotten over his amazement that Sirius actually was growing up.

Sirius pouted, "Hey, I can be mature when I want to be!"

The other Marauders and Lily snorted at that. Harry and Atlas looked at each other curiously. They both knew that Sirius hadn't always been the serious type, but they wondered how much he had really changed. They were already beginning to see pieces of his happy self; pieces that didn't exist in their timeline and they were looking forward to seeing more.

**Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the **_**Daily Prophet**_**, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault."**

"What!?" The adults in the room shouted. The couldn't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to rob Gringotts.

**Harry stared.**

"**Really? What happened to them?"**

"**Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught.**

"What!?" the adults in the room shouted once again. This caused the younger generation, save for Draco, to let out a few small giggles.

**My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.**

"**What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

"**Er — I don't know any." Harry confessed.**

"**What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world —" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing ****famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.**

**Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop.**

"Uh, oh," Atlas said worriedly.

"Why do you say that?" Lily asked curiously.

"After the way he acted in Madam Malkin's, you really expect him to make a good impression?" Harry asked with a snort, though he was looking a little worried too. He didn't like Malfoy, but he didn't want him dead and with all of the horrible things he'd said in the books that was a big possiblity.

"I think it may be best in he switched places with someone who isn't likely to hit him," Atlas said.

"I think you're drawing more attention to me than I was," Draco said.

"Yeah, well, I didn't think about the fact that you were sitting right beside Harry's parents."

Draco cast them a sidelong glance and shifted nervously away from them.

"It's that bad?" James asked with narrowed eyes at the squirming boy.

"I think it's worse," Harry mumbled, but everyone still heard him.

"Where should he sit then?" Regulus asked.

"Somewhere so he's between the three of us," Atlas said pointing to himself, Regulus, and Severus. "We're the most friendly, or at least the most controlled, out of everyone here when it comes to his behavior."

The others nodded and they discussed for a few minutes how they would mix up the seating arrangements. Once it was all figured out they decided to put Draco in the chair, Snape had been sitting in and Atlas on the beanbag Regulus had been using. Snape sat where Atlas used to and Remus and Neville switched seats, so Neville didn't have to sit beside Snape, whom he'd always been a little afraid of. Regulus took Snape's old seat since they didn't think it would be a good idea for Snape to sit next to James and they wanted someone of larger stature than Atlas to sit next to James just in case he was overtaken by his rage.

The reasoning of all of the younger generation made the older generation a little nervous about what they would be reading, but let it slide, hoping that the children were only exaggerating.

**He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

"**Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

"**Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.**

"They _are _bodyguards," Atlas and Draco said at the same time. Some of the older generation looked at them curiously, but decided not to comment. They had a feeling the sooner they got the rest of the chapter out of the way the better.

"**Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

Atlas and Hermione couldn't help but giggle again at Draco's introduction.

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

"**Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."**

Almost the entire room turned to glare at Draco. He shrunk back a little into his seat and for once Atlas was glad that he was so short and sitting on the floor, because even if he knew the glares weren't meant for him, he didn't want to be on the receiving end of them.

"It's only going to get worse, so you might as well keep reading, instead of wasting your energy on glaring at him now," Atlas said. He was really dreading what was coming up.

"It get's worse?" Alice asked incredulously. It was bad enough as it was.

"Unfortunately," Harry answered. "And unfortunately it's going to show up a lot in the books, so while I know you won't be able to completely control yourselves, It might be best not to address every instance of when he acts like a git."

Lily was angry as were the rest of the room, but they let it go and she continue reading, although her voice was tighter than before.

**He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."**

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

"Good," James and Sirius said.

"**I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.**

"**I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. **

Silence permeated the room. Everyone was staring at the book in Lily's hands in shock. They couldn't believe that they had just heard that. That he had just said that. Lily could feel her husband shaking in fury beside her and her hands gripped tightly onto the book. She now understood why the children had been so adamant about switching around the seating arrangements.

"I can't believe you just said that," Regulus said angrily as he glared at his younger cousin. Draco flinched back, but didn't say anything. He knew that talking would only make every one angrier.

The rest of the group were much too angry to find words to say. Most of them glared hatefully towards Draco, some of them wouldn't look at him, and the rest looked at him in a disapproving manner. Harry, who was looking at his parents' angry faces, was just as angry as the first time he had heard it. The only difference now, was that he had learned to control his temper a little bit. Although, having his parents sitting only a few feet away from him probably helped to.

Harry sighed as people in the room started yelling or continued glaring. He knew it was only a matter of time, before they finally truly reacted, but that didn't mean that he wasn't hoping he could have interrupted them before they stared. As much as he liked seeing Malfoy getting yelled at for once, he knew that just like with the Dursleys, if everyone reacted to every nasty thing he said they would never finish the books, let alone _this_ book.

"Guys, I know everyone's angry, I certainly don't like hearing what this git says again, but like I said before it's only going to get worse. We shouldn't spend too long getting angry and upset over what he, or anyone else says, because we'll never get through these books if we do," he said.

Everyone took a calming breath, realizing that he was right, and Hermione looked at him.

"That was awfully mature of you," She said in surprise.

"It's been known to happen," He said slightly offended.

Hermione snorted, "Yeah, but not when it involves Malfoy or a certain Potions Proffessor."

Harry just huffed and Lily continued her reading.

**You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."**

**Both Harry and Ron stood up.**

"**Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.**

"**Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.**

"**Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

"**But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

**Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle**

"That's the only useful thing he's ever done," Ron growled. Harry snorted.

— **Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and ****when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, ****because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

"**What **_**has **_**been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

"**I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep."**

**And so he had.**

"**You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

"**I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. **

"I wouldn't either," Sirius said shooting a glare at Malfoy, who just sunk lower in his chair.

"Good, because it's a lie," Regulus said.

"If the Dark Lord ever found out he tried to deny being on his side, Lucius would be severely punished," Severus said and Draco frowned in worry. His father might not have always been the nicest and he certainly wouldn't be getting any 'Father of the Year' awards, but he was still his father and they loved each other, whether they admitted it or not.

**He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

"**You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

"**Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

"**All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice.**

"Hermione, they are children," Remus said to the blushing girl.

"Oh, I was horrible! I'm so-"

"Don't apologize," Harry said cutting her off.

"Yeah, we already decided we wouldn't apologize for this stuff, besides we weren't all that great either," Ron said with a shrug.

"**And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

**Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.**

**He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.**

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"**

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

"**C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

"I sound like such a wimp," Neville said in slight embarrassment which only increased when his mother cooed. Frank tried to calm her down when he noticed his son's discomfort and Neville shot him a grateful smile.

**Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

"**No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.**

"Where were you?" Sirius asked and Regulus looked at Atlas curiously as well.

"With this git," Atlas said motioning to Draco.

Normally Draco would have said something, but considering the glares he had been receiving from everyone in the room, and the glares he knew were to come, he decided it was best to keep his mouth shut. If the group acted this way with what he'd said and the way he'd acted in this chapter, what would they do later? What about when they found out about his mission from the Dark Lord. He was afraid of there reactions and, as loathe as he was to admit it, starting to see that Harry wasn't quite as bad as he thought he was and that he was even worse than Harry and his cousin accused him of being. He certainly wasn't going to tell anybody else that, though, not when he was barely even admitting it to himself.

"**Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

"**Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the ****little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They ****were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and ****pebbles.**

"**Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

"How on earth did he know it was yours?" Fabian asked.

"I asked him if he'd seen him before we got on the boats," Hermione answered for Neville.

"Ah, that makes since," Gideon said.

"**Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

"**Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"Well, that's it," Lily said. "Here, Severus. It's your turn to read."

Severus frowned, but took the book anyway and opened it to the right page.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, that's a wrap. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I will try very hard to get the next chapter up, much faster. It won't be as long as this one, so that will at least keep it from being such a long wait between updates.**

**There is just one thing I'd like to mention before I finish. earlier in the story I mentioned that the person who went to tell Atlas about the Wizarding world was the Potions Professor. I did this so that the older generation would know that it was Snape when they read his chapter, but not before. However I just realized that I made them in their sixth year, so Snape is the DADA Professor and Slughorn is the Potions Professor. For anyone else who caught onto this mistake, I just wanted to clear things up that it was Snape, not Slughorn, that picked Atlas up.**

**~Yua-hime~**


	9. Author's Note

**To all of my readers, I would like to apologize profusely to you.**

**I have become uncomfortable with putting up JK Rowlings actual published words into my fanfiction. I do not wish to throw away the idea, and do plan on trying to find a way to make it work without having the actual books involved. With that in mind, I'm thinking about writing several chapters with merely their reactions to what happens in the books with a brief description of the chapter for those who don't remember exactly what happened in the chapters. This way you can still have most of the reactions as well as the bonding and I don't have to feel bad or guilty for putting Rowling's stuff online without permission. As for knowing where atlas shows up I have been toying with the idea of writing a story in his point of view adding in only a few lines of Rowlings where Atlas is in a conversation with the Trio as it actually happened. It will be slow going, but I will feel better about doing this. If you do not wish to read my story, then you don't have to.**

**Please note that I do not condemn anybody for their fanfictions. I am a great lover of the 'Reading the Books Fanfictions', and I will continue to read them and support those who write them. I just don't feel that I can put the actual book parts into my story as I have been doing. It prickles my conscience and I have a rule of following what my conscience says.**

**That being said, it will probably be a month or so until I get my newly revised as well as newly written story up. I'm not very far through Atlas' version of things.**

**I will leave my story up for the next couple of weeks (unless SOPA gets passed before then) before I start revising the chapters. The name will remain the same, but I will also be revising the summary so new readers will know that it is only the reactions and not actual book materials.**

**I realize that this will affect my story following, but I'm willing to accept the loss. Once again I am very sorry for doing this. I hope those of you who continue to read my story as well as those who read my new story still enjoy it, and won't be too upset with the change.**

**~Yua-hime~**


End file.
